Wizards of the Caribbean: Time is on Our Side
by Loony Luna Fan
Summary: On a mission for the Ministry to replace the time turners, a quick trip to a sunny beach turns into a very long trip back in time. In the realm of petticoats and pirates, Hermione and Draco have to find their way back home w/o being made to walk the plank
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Port Royal

**Title:** Wizards of the Caribbean: Time is on our Side

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything in this story (really, I even stole the puzzle that comes later on). All characters are either real pirates from the time period, characters based on Pirates of the Caribbean, or the beautiful brain children of J.K. Rowling. I write for pleasure and the entertainment of the readers and make no money what so ever.

**Warnings:** Very short scenes of violence, drinking, pillaging and other pirate activities. Also a scoop of cunnilingus and intercourse to give a break to the actual plot.

**Summary:** Stuck together on a mission for the Ministry of Magic to replace the time turners, a quick trip to a sunny beach turns into a very long trip back in time. Stuck in the realm of petticoats and pirates, Hermione and Draco have to find their way back home without being made to walk the plank.

**Notes:** Thank you, thank you, thank you to my delightful beta ivory88s. You put up with me sending you 3 chapters at a time and promising to get it done much sooner than it actually did as well as hammering down on my significant misuse of periods over commas. I also have to thank Sarah, who was my go to gal for pirate knowledge and helped push for plot that actually made some sense. Oh, and the delightful mods that run the Dramione remix. They do a great job and gave me the Prompt. Just a side note: The point of the remix is to take existing famous couples and use the stories (to whatever extent you wish) with a Hermione/Draco relationship. I chose Will and Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Chapter One: Welcome to Port Royal

Port Royal. The name was carved into a wooden sign to welcome happy tourists to the magnificent southern shoreline of Jamaica. Amid the dark skinned natives with braided hair tucked into colourful tams and lighter skinned foreigners busy snapping photos were two figures that stood out significantly. One young woman thought it would be funny to take a picture of the crazy couple in all black clothes walking down the sidewalk that separated the street from the beach. She was disappointed to find out that not only did the photo not take, but the camera seemed to have stopped working altogether. A sly smile played on the pale lips of the taller of the two figures when the woman exclaimed in a frustrated tone that her batteries just died.

"Granger?" The taller one started, stealing a side glance at his companion who waited silently for him to continue. "What are batteries?"

The woman he was walking with stayed quiet until they had passed a gathering of people that were ogling over a steel drum player set up in the walkway. "Batteries create electricity to power muggle devices. But I'm going to assume that whatever you just did to her camera has

nothing to do with the batteries." She suddenly stepped off the sidewalk and into the sand. Grains began collecting in her shoes but she didn't make any mention of it. The same could not be said for the man that followed, who had previously been grinning in response to her astute assessment.

"Granger, why are we doing this? We are out here in the middle of the day, garnering more attention than the blokes wearing dresses at the Quidditch World Cup." Though he was whining, he was keeping close enough to Hermione to whisper. Her eyes darted back and forth, clearly more preoccupied with finding or avoiding something.

"Hold still," she told him. She stood so that their sides nearly touched, most of the beach goers were at their backs. She reached into the folds of her robes and pulled out a wand. Rather than risk muttering a spell on a muggle beach, the woman stared at the wand lying flat in her palm as if sending and receiving thoughts with it. The length of wood wiggled in her hand and turned just to the left, pointing further along the beach. "We're nearly there," she whispered before pocketing the wand again, "There is a strong trace just up ahead."

"You didn't answer my question," the man reminded her.

Hermione rolled her eyes but humored him with a response. "We are here to collect sand for the new time turners." He knew that already, and she knew that he knew, but it was well worth repeating herself to see lines of agitation crease the corners of his mouth and eyes. "Calm down, Malfoy. We both put in requests to travel and we got what we wanted." Neither of them wanted to be too busy working to enjoy such a gorgeous location, least of all with each other, but someone upstairs had put them both on the assignment.

Knowing as much, Malfoy kept his mouth shut for the remainder of their jaunt down the beach and tried to ignore the near-white sand that was sticking to his socks and trousers. Eventually they came to a gathering of various rocks that encircled a small stretch of sand. Vibrant paint had been used to write graffiti on them, but underneath that, unremarkable symbols had been carved into the stone. Hermione had pulled out a small notebook and was copying them down.

Draco looked down with disinterest on the small sea creatures that were residing inside the tide pool within the circle and then saw that Hermione had taken her wand back out and was casting various spells on the sand. She was significantly better than he when it came to Charms, so she had been entrusted with the actual extraction of the magical sand. Malfoy was meant to keep watch and aid if necessary.

Turning away from Hermione, Malfoy quickly scanned the surrounding area. Not many bothered to come this far down the beach. He wondered if any charms were put on the area to keep muggles away. Of course, they couldn't utilize the magical sand they were gathering even if they did happen upon the ordinary spot; however, the Ministry was overly precautious about almost everything. "Aren't you done yet?" Malfoy barked. They had had to walk the entire way from the hotel they were staying in so as not to attract attention and he was tired of this process; he felt as though it was taking longer than needed.

He had expected a snappy retort, but instead there was a crash of a fresh wave followed by an irritated screech. Malfoy whipped around and drew his wand in one fluid motion, but he quickly put it away when he saw that what Hermione really needed was a towel. He let out a deep chuckle at her wet dog look. "If you worked faster that could have been avoided," he chastised, stepping a little further away from the edge of the water. Hermione gave him her ugliest look, but continued her wand waving.

In no time at all Hermione was standing at her full height with a golden chain clutched in her fingers. The hour glass that hung in the middle of the golden hoop in the center of the chain was full of fresh sand that gave off a little shimmer as if it were glowing faintly. "I've finished them all," she announced, motioning to several identical necklaces that she had just tucked into her robes.

"Great, now give it here." Before anything could be done to stop him, Malfoy had slung the chain around his neck and held up the hour glass before his eyes. "I need to go back a few hours to catch up on the sleep that this whole adventure has made me miss." While it was late in the evening back in London, Hermione didn't agree with his thoughts.

"Let's just lea-" Her statement was cut short as she saw Malfoy's pale fingers begin twisting the hour glass. Once… Twice… "NO!" Hermione grabbed hold of the man's robes with only her wrists and hands within the circle of chain, but it was enough. Malfoy twisted the dial quickly between his thumb and pointer finger, each time causing the center to spin faster and faster.

They were able to keep from toppling over despite Hermione throwing herself at him, but around them were blurry images of beachgoers moving in reverse. Something didn't seem quite right about it though. Hermione watched with narrowed eyes as the smeared world around them grew darker and lighter. The seconds ticked by and still time flew backwards all around. In all the uses she had gotten out of the time turner in her third year, it had never taken this long. Something was seriously wrong.

A/N: Thoughts? It's already finished and I'll wind up posting the whole thing in good time (as I recall, there are nearly 30 chapters), but I'd like to know what folks that weren't part of the fest think.


	2. Chapter 2: Unfamiliar

Chapter Two: Unfamiliar

"Would you – "

"Shh…"

"Granger don't tell me to – "

"Shut up!"

Malfoy wasn't sure whether to be more frustrated with Hermione clenching his robes for dear life or the fact that she had just interrupted him twice. He also observed the flashes of colour that made up the reversing world around him, though with markedly less interest than Hermione, who seemed to be having a serious issue. But the movements were slowing; they must have been getting to their desired time. Still Hermione had not let him go nor relaxed the deep wrinkle of concentration across her forehead. Eventually everything slowed to real time.

At first the only difference Malfoy was able to see was that the ocean was hitting the beach a little further out than it had been 3 hours ahead. But then he noticed new sounds and, unfortunately, new smells. The cheery atmosphere of music and idle conversation had been replaced by shouting. Men were on top of ships and on the wooden docks where the ships were ported at. Crates were being lowered by ropes and then loaded into horse drawn carriages. Based on the scent carried by the breeze, the crates probably held raw meat of some sort. There were no women nearby, nor children simply running around.

"Malfoy!" His head snapped to Hermione. She looked livid. "That was absolutely the most irresponsible thing you could have done. These need to be tested in a Ministry approved location. Any number of things could have gone wrong, we could have been taken to –"

Malfoy's right hand clamped over her mouth. He didn't have much to say back to her, he just wanted to shut her up for five seconds.

"S'cuse me, Miss." Both Hermione and Malfoy turned their heads and saw a man wearing tan breeches and a white button up with the sleeves that grew wide until the cuff that was buttoned around the wrist. "Is this man giving you any trouble?" He was clearly as concerned about their appearance as they were about his. Malfoy quickly dropped his hand.

Hermione was the first to come to her senses. "No, we are quite alright, thank you." She released the fabric of Malfoy's robes and turned to face the man, hiding the time turner Malfoy still held in his hand behind her. The gentleman before her, though clearly comforted by her response, didn't turn to leave. "Yes, well. We must be off. Do you know where I can get a newspaper?"

Seemingly confused by the request but still considerate, he explained, "Well, there's a boy on nearly e'ry street sellin' em, ain't there? Should be no trouble at all finding one," He assured. Before the man could say much more, Hermione smiled appreciatively and began walking toward the nearby buildings, all of which were made of either what appeared to be stone, brick, or fresh wood. By now Malfoy had hidden the time turner and fell into step right behind her.

"What was that nutter wearing?" He asked in a loud whisper. As before, Hermione wasn't speaking to him. Her focus was clearly on something else and by now Malfoy had learned to simply go with it until she broke from her reprieve. Still… He took another look at the horses pulling the cart away from the dock. Had that been there a while ago? He didn't think so, and it couldn't have been torn down in only a few hours.

Hermione picked up her pace when the sound of a small boy rang through the streets and caught her attention. "Four farthin's fer yer news! Fresh from the press it is!" Malfoy tried to not be bothered by the child's poor language skills. And what in the name of Merlin was a farthin'? He watched as Hermione asked the boy if he would accept a knut she was offering.

"Well it looks right like a penny, Miss, so I suppose I can. Here." He bent over and handed her the folded pages and went on shouting. Malfoy attempted to read what was written across the headlines, for no other reason than to see what the muggles were complaining about, but Hermione folded the pages over themselves and nearly ran to a nearby alley way.

"Damn it Granger, quit running. What has got your knickers in a twist?" He watched as her eyes scanned the page over and over again. The wrinkle in her forehead deepened. When she gave no sign that she had even heard him Malfoy grabbed the top of the paper and ripped it from her hands. If she wasn't going to tell him, he would figure out what was so important on his own.

The front page consisted of what appeared to be a hand drawn, motionless image of a ship with large sails and the Union Jacket waving from the top. The article, in notably fancy print, discussed the ship's recent disembarkation from the shores of Port Royal. It was on its way to London. Other than a few odd words, Malfoy was perplexed. "And what does this have to do with me missing my nap?" he asked, frustrated that they would probably have to use the time turner again at this rate.

"Look at the date, Malfoy."

His eyes scanned the top corners for the numbers that would tell him the month and day. "It's still May 7th, so what?"

Hermione shook her head. "Look at the iyear/i!" She told him fiercely. He looked back down and at first it didn't register. After a second glance, his face drained of what little colour it possessed. There, in small, swirly inked font was the number 1718. "You didn't send us back three hours, Malfoy." He looked up at her and almost instantly regretted it. Anger practically emanated like an aura around her. He half expected the tips of her hair to spark. "You sent us back nearly Three. Hundred. YEARS!"


	3. Chapter 3: Fitting

Chapter Three: Fitting

Hermione was angry. Angry that Malfoy had caused this, angry that she didn't know what to do, angry that he didn't seem to be able to do anything more useful than gape at the print on the newspaper. But it wasn't the time to panic. They were where they were and needed to focus; panicking would get them nowhere except for potentially tossed in jail or burned at the stake. It was best to avoid using magic, at least until they had sounder bearings on where they were and a plan for what they were going to do.

"First things first," Hermione started, heading toward the end of the alleyway and looking either direction; she checked to see how crowded the streets were. Malfoy quirked an eyebrow. "We need to get out of these robes." The incredulity on his face would have been comical in any other situation.

"No. Granger. First thing we need to do is get back to the twenty first century!"

"Shh!" Hermione gave him a harsh glare. "We don't know _how_ to get back. Time turners don't work in reverse!" This seemed to be news to Draco. "We can't keep ducking into alleyways. We stand out right now. We'll need to change our clothing, get some muggle money, and find a place to hide." Quickly reaching into the tiny bag, she pulled out two long traveling cloaks. "Put this on," she instructed, throwing one over her shoulders to cover up her modern attire.

The coast seemed clear enough and Hermione took off into the street. Her strides were long as she tried to keep from running while searching frantically for a store that might sell them something appropriate. "Did it ever occur to you that we won't be able to buy clothes without money?" Malfoy scoffed. His voice expressed his disdain at the thought of wearing muggle garb. "Why can't we just apparate back to London?"

"Malfoy, the ministry is currently busy trying to keep witches like Wendelin the Weird out of sight of the muggles." A group of older ladies dressed in long dressed that stuck out due to large petticoats cast both Hermione and Draco worried glances. Hermione could only wonder what they were thinking and turned at the next corner to get out of their sight. "Besides, our presence in the magical world should go undetected. We're not supposed to be seen when we use a time turner." She looked down at her feet as they passed more muggles. "We will have to figure this one out on our own."

Hermione motioned toward the remaining time turners in her pockets. "They aren't meant to travel forward, but perhaps, with some luck, we can change that." No doubt the devices, if they worked, would be destroyed immediately. The only thing worse than tampering with the past was knowing the future. Hermione wouldn't mind so much, she only wanted to get home.

Malfoy had tried to go with Hermione's collected train of thought, but it suddenly derailed for him. "So you're saying that we are going to have to just stumble upon a way to reverse these?" Hermione's face was stony in response. "We might as well just wait the three hundred years." Were Draco Malfoy ten years younger, he might have crossed his arms and had a tiff right there in the middle of the street. As it was, he kept quiet and followed Hermione into a little shop. The wooden sign above read "Seamstress".

A small bell hanging above the door tinkled when the two entered, announcing their presence to the shop owner. "Just a moment," a woman's voice rang out from the back room. Draco eyed Hermione as she pulled out her wand and did a quick wave. Suddenly her hair lost all of its deep brown colour and was replaced by a shiny pale blonde that match his.

"What is _that_ for?" Malfoy whispered suspiciously.

"You'll see," Hermione whispered back, implying that she had a plan.

There was a shuffling noise that told them the woman was coming forward. When she finally appeared, a small stack of fabric piled in her arms, she gave both Hermione and Malfoy a queer look. "Good afternoon and welcome to my shop, I'm Mrs. Sallow. Is there anything I can help you find?"

Malfoy opened his mouth to say something but Hermione beat him to it. "Hello, we're Draco and Hermione Malfoy." Draco's eyes grew wide but he was smart enough to keep his indignation in check. "We just arrived on a ship from England, however our luggage was damaged and we are in the process of replacing the contents."

The woman paused for half a second before laying down the fabric. "Malfoy you say?" She looked a bit skeptical of Hermione, for a moment, but suddenly her face brightened. "Well it is an absolute honour to have you both in my store. I can help you with anything you'd like. Just give me a moment to get my equipment and I'll take your measurements."

"That was your plan? To soil my family's good name?" Malfoy was liking the predicament less and less.

"It worked didn't it? How would I have explained the two of us being alone, unrelated and unmarried?" The implications would have stirred up gossip in the city and attention was something neither of them wanted. "I didn't realize she would recognize the name though…" Hermione added. Her brow creased with thought.

Malfoy scoffed and Hermione turned to see him sporting an arrogant smirk. "Surprised my family was well renown this far back?" He asked.

"Not exactly," Hermione admitted, blushing slightly at being caught off guard. "But why would a muggle know your family?"

"Think about it, the Statutes of Secrecy weren't established until a few years prior to this. We didn't necessarily get involved with muggles," just the thought seemed to provide discomfort for the male heir, "but the Malfoy name has always been infamous."

He held the smirk until Mrs. Sallow returned with a wooden stool and measuring tape. Behind her, a young girl of no more than twelve stood with a quill and parchment ready to write down the numbers the seamstress would announce. Malfoy was up first. He towered over the woman to begin with, but their height difference made her job difficult when measuring from his shoulders. Eventually she needed a stool of her own.

When Hermione stood and removed the cloak from about her shoulders, Sallow gave her another weird look. But she didn't say anything on that matter and instead took up idle chatter about their trip.

"And how long was the journey, Miss?"

"It wasn't very long, only two months."

"How long do you intend to be staying?"

"Not very long." Hermione stopped talking while the woman measured around her middle. Once the tape was removed, she continued. "There are just a few matters that need attending to."

"It seems such a shame to travel all this way for only a short visit."

Hermione faltered on coming up with a quick reply but luckily Draco was standing close enough to take over. "They're very personal matters. It wouldn't have been sensible to send someone in our stead." His tone of finality ended the conversation. The woman said nothing further except when instructing the small girl.

Finally, Sallow stood tall and smiled. "I should be able to have two dresses for you Miss and three days wear for you, Mister Malfoy, available tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I think I have something you can wear." She nodded at Hermione before turning and walking toward the back. "Follow me, please."

Malfoy tensed when Hermione walked away but figured she could handle herself; she did still have her wand if she needed to use it. In the meantime, he perused through the nearby cloth with one hand in his pocket. The other reached out to feel an assortment of handkerchiefs. A quiet sound alerted him to the fact that the child was still nearby. He turned to see her staring up at him with large brown eyes from across the room. She resembled a house elf in the way she seemed to revere his presence. Before he could ponder it too much, she scampered off at the call of her mistress. With no more eyes on him, he pocketed one of the white squares of fabric. I didn't have the Malfoy monogram on it, but it was too nice to leave behind.

A/N: That's all for right now. No worries though, I'll have the other chapters up a couple at a time as the next few weeks progress. Be sure to let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4: Actual Plan

******Hey all! I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone that added me to their favourite and alert lists! I couldn't bring my self to hold out the next few chapters. Here are 4-6. Enjoy!**

**Chapter Four: Actual Plan**

Hermione returned some time later. Draco heard her before he actually saw her. She seemed to be upset over whatever the woman had given her. "Really, it's far too much," he heard her say. Did her voice sound a little strained? Mrs. Sallow replied that it was no trouble at all for the Malfoy family. The smirk returned to Draco's lips and only became more prominent when he finally saw the two women round the corner to the front of the store.

The seamstress had gotten Hermione into a very simple dress of brown and green, but it was clearly a little tight. He suspected it belonged to the servant girl. He wasn't able to discern what had been "too much" until Hermione's hand rested on her mid-section. The seamstress had apparently coerced her into a corset to fit. Trying to hold back his laughter, Malfoy nodded his approval.

The two left the shop shortly after with a promise to return the next morning to pick up their new clothes. "Uh, Hermione?" Malfoy started as they walked down a street with no particular destination in mind. She turned her face up to him. "How are we going to pay for those?"

Hermione laughed, but Draco didn't seem to understand what was so funny. "We'll just obliviate her afterwards." Draco halted in the streets. "What?" she asked. She checked to make sure no one around had noticed their change in attitude.

"We are not going to steal them!" He told her in a harsh whisper.

"Don't tell me that you've finally gained a sense of morality!"

"Don't tell me that you've finally lost yours!"

He had a point, but Hermione had one right back for him. "And what do you suppose we do, rob a bank to pay for clothing?" They both fell quiet again.

Night was falling and soon many doors and windows were closed and locked for the night. Neither was willing to voice aloud the question they both were pondering: where would they sleep that night? It would have been foolish to attempt to camp outside the safety of the town without any supplies.

Already in need of a nap, Draco eventually snapped, "So, what's your fantastic plan for getting us a room? Planning to obliviate an entire hotel?"

Hermione chewed on her lower lip. She was feeling less and less sure about their time spent in the past and about all of the stealing that seemed to be required. Her thought process was interrupted when shouting from a nearby building escalated until the front door was flown open. Yellow light illuminated the figure of one man tossing another into the street.

"And ya can stay out!" the one standing called to the fellow who seemed unable to stay upright as he swayed back and forth. He responded with a few slurred curse words but did not try to reenter the pub and instead looked about to find a spot to rest for the night. Hermione moved to walk on by, away from where she and Malfoy would be noticed, but he seemed to have other ideas.

"What are you doing?" She asked harshly, reaching out and grabbing the fabric on his forearm.

Malfoy pulled his arm free before responding. "_I_ have an actual plan," He informed her, shirking off his robe and handing it to her before opening the door. She made to follow him but he held up a hand. "Trust me; you don't want to come in here." He shut the door behind him and left her in the street.

After the shock of being left outside like a stray dog wore off, Hermione quickly moved to the side of the building and found a window to look through. The panes didn't look to have been cleaned in the last three years, but she could make out Malfoy. He seemed to have sat down at one of the tables with a group of men. He talked with them for a few moments before one nearby gave a hearty laugh and dealt him a hand.

"Gambling? That was his great plan?" Hermione scoffed but hoped that he had a decent poker face while wondering how he would even know how to play the muggle game. But Malfoy stayed at the table and even ordered a drink. Occasionally Hermione would look up the alleyway to check for the stumbling man or anyone else who may have come across. The night was nearly silent and no one came by.

Eventually the cold coastal air became too much for Hermione despite the several layers of dress that Sallow had put her in. She used her wand to place a few wards on the alleyway, nothing nearly as complex as what had been needed in the war, but enough to keep herself from being seen. Afterwards, she created a small bluebell flame that she had gotten out of the habit of making. Her legs instantly felt better and she was able to focus more on keeping her eyes open and watching the blonde who had ordered a third or fourth drink by now.

Sleep began to win the battle against Hermione, who conjured a stool to sit down on. She could no longer see through the window, but she assumed that Malfoy could take care of himself for a few minutes while she rested her eyes. He shouldn't be taking much longer anyway. If he had managed to win enough money to buy himself Merlin only knew what they had on tap here, he should be making his way out the door any minute now. Hermione closed her eyes for just a moment, her chin resting in her left hand while her right protectively gripped her wand.

After what only seemed like a few seconds later, the sound of chickens nearby roused Hermione from her sleep. The sun was shining but wasn't yet overhead. At the end of the street she saw a few hens scratching the ground while rooster she couldn't see crowed to wake all of the light sleepers in town. Hermione's heart began to race. She must have been out for hours. Where was Malfoy? Why hadn't he come to get her when he was done?

She stood and vanished both the flames that had kept her warm and the stool that she had rested on. The joints in her back and knees cracked painfully but she was far too concerned about Malfoy's whereabouts. It was bad enough being stuck this far in the past with Malfoy, but Hermione didn't relish the thought of them being separated. Thankfully she saw him almost as soon as she stood. Through the window she had been peering through last night she saw him slumped over the card table he had been playing at. A few cards were still stuck in his hands.

Immediately worked into a huff, Hermione waved her wand to dispel the protective wards and marched to the front of the building. She wrenched open the front door and moved to stand over Malfoy's limp body that was emitting a light snoring noise. Reaching down, she grabbing his ear and gave it a hard twist. He yelled out as his body recognized the pain, but she ignored the odd look she got from the bar keep and few other patrons.

"Draco sodding Malfoy," Hermione whispered angrily. She looked very similar to how she had the day before when she read the newspaper. "Get. Up. Now." He stood, a dark expression on his face, but Hermione was having none of it. She didn't offer any further instructions, but when she moved toward the door, it was an obvious demand that he was meant to follow. Malfoy rubbed his now sore ear but didn't disobey.

Rather than round on him as soon as they were free of the building, Hermione led Malfoy to the alley she had spent the night in. As soon as they were both concealed by the shadow of the two building on either side, she made an abrupt about face and landed her right palm across his left cheek. "How _dare_ you!" she shrieked while trying to keep her voice down, "I waited all night out here, in this very alleyway and you spent all night inside a warm pub playing cards and getting drunk. Tell me, was falling asleep on the card table part of your 'actual plan'?" She placed her hands on her hips and waited for an explanation.

Before saying anything, Malfoy reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet bag that jingled with his movement. "The plan was to get money for your damned dresses," he informed, shaking the bag and making the coins inside more audible. "That was a complete success. The fact that I found a place to sleep as well," he shrugged, "that was a bonus." When Hermione gave him a look, he answered her unspoken question. "Muggles are particularly susceptible to legilimency, especially because they lack the ability to perform occlumency. Inebriated muggles hardly even realize what's going on. "

Hermione wanted to raise her hand to his face again, but figured he wouldn't be so willing to hand over the money he had won if she continued the abuse. "Let's go then," She said bitterly.

The two traveled back to the shop on the main street. Hermione wanted to rush and simply take the dresses with her, but Sallow insisted that she put on a fresh dress right away and she would take the borrowed one back. Knowing it would do no good to argue, Hermione allowed herself to be squeezed into a pale yellow dress with white flowers a large bustle in the back. At the very least, it was long enough to hide her shoes, which would have seemed odd to anyone who saw them.

Malfoy's new clothing wasn't well received by the man. The dark brown bottoms were held up by strings that tied in the front. His expression of distaste made it obvious that he preferred a zipper. It only got worse though, in his opinion. Below the pants, which only went down to mid-thigh were white stockings. They looked very wrong leading down into his trainers and the shop owner suggested he go see the shoe maker straight away. His white long sleeve top buttoned up and a plain brown jacket with several fasteners that ran down the middle was put on over it. Hermione returned the smirk he had given her yesterday when she returned from the back of the room.

Mrs. Sallow fussed for a short while about having to rush and hoping they wouldn't mind that the designs were rather plain. Hermione assured her that they were perfectly fine and handed over three pounds. She insisted it was a few shillings too many, but Hermione refused to take any of it back. She thanked them and waved them out of her shop.

As soon as they were out of sight of the shop, Hermione pulled out her beaded handbag that she had continued to carry with her out of convenience. She stuffed the new clothing and time turners inside to keep them safe, but kept her wand out for ease of access. There were no pockets on the dress to hold the bag, so she had to settle for carrying it in her hand.


	5. Chapter 5: I Forgot to Mention

**Chapter Five: I Forgot to Mention**

Almost immediately after leaving the tailor's building, a low rumble came from both of their stomachs. The nearest pub-looking establishment had a wooden sign hanging overhead with the word's "Pete's Place". Hermione grimaced when she noted the striking resemblance to the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade. But it was close and probably within their price range; the clothes had cost them several pretty pennies. Draco opened the door, but rather than allowing Hermione to walk in first, he sauntered in as if he owned the place. Hermione followed, glaring.

On a black slate next to the large metal cash register were the day's meal options. They both opted for the white soup over the oyster stew. Hermione suspected that they would wind up with some sort of food poisoning if they tried the shell fish. A large man ladled thick goo into two bowls and traded them for four shillings. They took the meal to the smallest table in the room and sat on the hard wooden chairs. They discussed in whispers between bites, ignoring the bland taste.

"How do you intend to fix the time turner?" Malfoy asked.

Hermione made a face as she took another bite but quickly relaxed it. "I'm not exactly sure." She admitted. "It would be along similar means to making an antidote to a potion. But I'm not entirely sure what the properties of the magical sand that we used are and even then the hour glass has specific enchantments placed upon it. I imagine the markings I sketched will garner some information, but that may take a bit of time to work out."

She looked as if she wanted to continue but Malfoy held up his hand. "I just asked if you knew what you were doing. All you had to say was 'I don't know'." Hermione shot him a look of contempt but took her frustrations out on the flavourless soup by swallowing another bite.

"We might need to do some traveling," she further informed him before he could stop her, "Apparition would be difficult given we don't know our destinations. We might accidentally appear in the middle of another city."

"What do you propose then? Should we swim to the nearest island after we search this one for answers?"

Hermione didn't appreciate his attitude. "Of course not. I know you'd never put in that much effort and would probably drown in the attempt," she smirked and continued, "Obviously we'll need to get around by boat."

Malfoy made a movement like he was going to argue some more, but the front door opened rather quickly and they both turned their heads to see who had made such an entrance. A woman walked in, but she didn't resemble any other women they had seen in the last two days. She had on brown trousers for one, and they went down her legs until they were hidden inside her knee high brown boots. Her chemise top had long sleeves with drooping cuffs and a deep purple bodice cut off at the shoulders was over that. All of it was cinched around the middle with a large brown belt with a brass buckle.

Malfoy turned back to his food and avoided looking at the woman. Hermione however couldn't stop staring at her wild appearance, which kept going. Her hair was deep red, loose and curly as if it had been in the humidity too long. The woman's eyes swept the vicinity quickly; she was searching for something in particular.

For a moment it seemed that she would be leaving without confrontation. Hermione turned to continue their conversation but found Malfoy looking determinedly at the wall. She cleared her throat but he did not look up. Hermione looked back to the center of the room to check that the woman was gone. Much to her surprise, she found her eyes level with the wild woman's navel.

"Draco," Hermione said evenly, "You have a visitor." Draco shot her an evil glare when he eventually looked up. Hermione waited for something along the lines of the woman to give him a good slap for something he had done or said the night before. Her eyes grew wide when the woman laid down a piece of parchment on the table between them instead. There were three particular phrases that caught Hermione's eye. "I hereby agree", "sail under Captain Calico Jack Rackham" and "Draco Malfoy" scribbled at the bottom of the contract. Were Hermione not so dead set on killing Malfoy in that moment, she may have fainted.


	6. Chapter 6: Anne Bonny

**Chapter Six: Anne Bonny**

The woman snatched up the roll of parchment and eyed the two bowls of soup in front of the couple. "Most don't spend their first pay on somethin' so pitiful." Hermione was still beyond words and Malfoy looked to be ignoring both women. He took another bite. "We sail at high tide and I'm here to make sure yer on board," She informed them. Looking at Hermione she asked, "Will ya be joining us?" Her voice had a distinct sneer to it while she pulled out what looked to be a blank contract, "Three pounds for signin' up."

"Yes," Both women's heads snapped to look at Draco who had finally said something. "She's coming," he all but commanded, "I wouldn't be able to sail without my _wife_," he explained, taking up the last bite of his soup before standing. The combined power of Merlin, Circe, and Dumbledore would not be enough to save Draco Malfoy from the wrath that would befall him by the hands of the still fake blonde-haired witch sitting across from him.

The unidentified female grinned widely. "Sign here," she instructed, pointing to the spot on the paper left blank for a signature. Hermione glared in Malfoy's direction but was met with an equally compelling gaze. Unsure as to why, she used the bent quill and ink the lady had produced from her pocket and scribbled _Hermione Malfoy_ where she was told. The lady pulled the page back and handed over a small velvet bag that was much like the one Malfoy had dangled in front of her face hours before.

"The name's Anne Bonny, but 'first mate' is what I'll be hearing from you." She glanced at Hermione's attire as she stood. "Ya won't be swabbin' the decks dressed that fancy. We'll get ya somethin' proper." Hermione raised her eyebrows, clearly not agreeing with Anne's opinion of "proper".

"Keep yer looks to yerself." At first, Hermione thought Bonny was talking to her, but the pirate was actually giving the barman a clear look of warning before heading toward the door. "Let's make way," she said, not waiting for the "Malfoys" to follow but glancing back to make sure they were.

Bonny didn't get far enough ahead to give Hermione and Draco room to hold even a whispered conversation without being noticed. Instead Hermione had to be content with merely thinking all of the horrible things she would like to say to him; some unintelligible string of curse words and hexes. What had he gotten them into? Pirates! They had been in the 18th century for 24 hours and he had managed to get drunk enough to sign his and her life away to a ship of uncouth, plundering scoundrels! The rant raged on and on in her mind.

At one point Hermione attempted to go for her wand, but Bonny seemed to sense something was coming. "I promise ya, I've had more blood on my blade then ya have in yer body." She thought she could have been fast enough to stun her, but Hermione wasn't willing to make a scene in the middle of a street full of muggles. She was bothered by the fact that no one seemed to be making much of the fact that both she and Draco were following what was clearly a pirate. From what Hermione recalled from her muggle History classes, piracy was a huge issue that was punishable by hanging. Why was Anne walking around as though she owned the place?

The question was never asked as they had finally made it to the beach. Large, official looking ships with the Union Jacket were docked at the peer. Surely none of those were to be their mode of transportation. "Hop in." Compared to the grandiose vessels at the dock, the wooden dingy tied only to a rock had been completely overlooked.

Bonny untied the length of rope and took it with her as she got in. She took a seat at the front and looked expectantly at Draco, who looked to Hermione, who kept looking at Anne. "Ya don't have all day. Ya both get in and row or I'll cut you down where you stand." Hermione got in first and settled by one oar while Draco did the same, sitting next to her. He looked at the oar with confusion. "ROW!" The sound of a thin strip of metal being unsheathed was enough to convince Hermione to attempt to row both oars on her own. She'd gotten dragged into this mess because of Malfoy, she wasn't going to die because he wasn't willing to put in a little effort as well. But Malfoy seemed to have gotten the hint. His fingers clenched the unpolished handle and they both made to head out.

At first they went almost nowhere. Their paddles sunk into the sand beneath the shallow water and Bonny signed in frustration. She lifted her leg and put her boot into Draco's back. "Push us off then," She instructed. Malfoy looked to be on the brink of killing her with his bare hands. Hermione was even more certain that there was something he wanted out of this plan of his because he actually got out of the boat. His shoes and lower pant legs were soaked as he shoved to get the boat holding two grown women out into the tide. He jumped back in and took up his rowing next to Hermione.

Aside from Quidditch, Hermione had never seen Malfoy exert energy that didn't involve a wand or a smart remark. She didn't know whether or not to trust him, and she certainly didn't trust the female pirate resting at the bow of their miniscule boat, but she felt that there was at least some security in having a plan, even if she didn't know what it was just yet.

A/N: I realize the last two chapters were pretty short. But more will come soon. Thanks again to everyone that added the story to your alert and favourite lists!


	7. Chapter 7: Raise Anchor

**Hello again! I am dedicating these next few chapters to Kermit 304 and Vl15 (I apologize immensely to Vl15 for promising chapters last night but falling asleep right after because I had 13 hours of class yesterday =S ). These two left me great reviews and messages and really made me glad that I decided to upload this story. Thanks again to all others who added the story to alert and favourite lists. I PMed back the ones that I could. Now, here's the next few chapters for your pleasure:**

**Chapter Seven: Raise Anchor**

Hermione was more than a little worried as they carried the dingy out into the larger waves. They couldn't make it much farther without being capsized. Already she and Malfoy were exerting as much force as they could to keep the boat on course. "A bit further," Bonny said for the third time. Hermione's dress skirts were ruined from the ocean water coming up over the edge of the boat and pooling at their feet. The blonde woman was about to turn and give the red head a piece of her mind when she finally saw it.

Hidden within a cove in the cliffs another half mile down the shore, Hermione saw a small sailing ship tucked into the rock. "That be_ Revenge_," Bonny told them proudly. From what Hermione could tell from this distance, it wasn't much. It wasn't overly large, especially in comparison to the ships in the harbor. It had only one mast but there were three or four distinct sails attached to it. It was also unmistakably their destination. The Jolly Roger waved in the wind and leered down at the three new comers.

Ropes were tossed over the edge of the sloop. Anne tied one to her end of the boat while Hermione and Draco attempted to tie the other to the far end. "What the hell did you get us into, Malfoy?" Hermione asked pulling hard on the slack she had while praying the knot would hold.

"I got us a boat, didn't I?" Hermione didn't want to argue the fact that she had expressed her need for a boat after he had signed the contract.

A rope ladder was lowered and Anne began climbing. Hermione was waiting but Malfoy extended his hand toward the ladder. "Ladies first," he told her, smirking. She narrowed her eyes, but didn't want to fall too far behind and get the brunt of Bonny's attitude later. Hermione carefully placed one foot after the other up onto the unstable rungs. She was reminded that she was wearing a dress both as she stepped on the front of the skirts and nearly fell and at the sound of Malfoy's low whistle. Were she not clinging to the harsh rope for dear life, she would have pulled out her wand and attacked him. As it was, all she could do was keep her thighs as close together as possible while hiking up the bottom skirts to avoid stepping on them some more. Her cheeks were bright pink by the time she made it up on deck.

Though Malfoy wasn't her favourite person in the world, events over the last day notwithstanding, he was certainly more comforting than the scene before them. A crew of two dozen or so men looked on them, especially her, as they stood near the railing. Hermione took a hesitant step toward him, liking their marriage charade more and more. With any luck, it would keep her out of the hands of any of the men that were smiling at her; many of whom were lacking at least a few teeth. She tried to ignore their unkempt hair and tattered clothing, but it was only with the distraction of a shout that she was able to manage the feat.

"Arg, this be the last of them, then?" At the back end of the ship, on a deck that was another story up from theirs, a large man stood with one hand resting on the wooden, pegged wheel.

"Aye, captain!" Bonny shouted. She had a glint in her eye that Hermione couldn't identify. She seemed to admire the captain, more so than anyone else on the lower deck. Perhaps that was why she was first mate.

"Then we be off!" He announced. Without further instruction, all of the bodies began moving. Shouts of instruction on the riggings were heard and Hermione had a difficult time distinguishing who was doing what. She felt a hand shove her shoulder. "Go on now, raise anchor!" Bonny had given the order and pushed again so that Hermione stepped into the direction of a structure the looked like the steering wheel that had been laid on a pedestal. There were a few crew members holding on to the large pegs and were pushing forward. As they did, a metal chain wrapped around the pedestal below. Hermione stepped in and grabbed hold of one of the open pegs and began to push. The capstan slowly gave way and the ship began to leave Port Royal.

As the ship left the safety of the cliffs it had been hidden in, a rise in commotion came from the shore line. As Hermione lurched forward to keep up with the men she was trapped in the circular path with, she looked up. One of the official-looking ships, no doubt part of the Royal Navy, seemed to be on its way out to sea. Her heart sped up at the thought of it racing after them. Their ship was so small, it would surely sink in a matter of minutes.

Though the large vessel did turn in their direction, the wind and current must have caught their smaller ship at a better angle. It gained speed and, miraculously, the distance between the two grew at a steady pace until the Navy Ship was a large speck on the horizon with a small island that was Jamaica in the background.

Hermione stared in disbelief. All of the others who had been hoisting the anchor with her and moved on to other duties as the hunk of metal had been locked in place. She turned to look for Malfoy and devise a plan of escape, but she nearly walked into Anne who was standing just a half foot away. "Yer not goin' anywhere, missy." She told her before grabbing Hermione's wrist and pulling her toward the back of the ship.


	8. Chapter 8: Dressing the Part

**Chapter Eight: Dressing the Part**

Though she couldn't stand the indignity of being manhandled by the red head, Hermione didn't say anything while being led to the stern. For one terrifying moment, Hermione thought she was being taken to the captain. But they didn't use the short set of stairs and instead entered the large wooden door with the word "Capt'n" carved into it. Hermione didn't have any time to observe the coarse handiwork before she was shoved inside.

"Take the dress off." Hermione's brown eyes grew wide at the command.

"I beg your pardon."

"Ya heard me before. Take it off and put this on." Anne had been digging through a large trunk on the floor and had just tossed a wrinkled off white shirt in Hermione's direction followed by a tan vest that would lace together over her stomach and leave her chest area with only the shirt to cover it. Hermione cleared her throat and prepared to make a mention of the indecency of the outfit but Bonny thrust some cloth pants into her hands and told her harshly, "Ya can wear what I give ya or go without any clothes at all. But ya will be workin' on the deck like the rest of the crew." She also bent down and grabbed a spare pair of boots in the corner and dropped them at Hermione's feet.

Though she didn't want to, Hermione gathered all of the clothing that had been offered and gave Anne a hard look. The other woman crossed her arms and leaned her shoulder into the nearby wall. "Do you mind?" Hermione asked. The last thing she wanted was to be on display for her captor.

"If ya think I'll be leavin' ya in the Capt'ns quarters unsupervised, yer wrong," Anne told her simply. Knowing that arguing would get her nowhere, Hermione turned away from Anne's gaze and began slipping out of the large and lacy dress that she had been given just this morning. She pulled the white shirt on over the corset as soon as her arms were free from the top of the gown, but as the fabric fell to the floor, so did her wand. Hermione turned to retrieve it, but Anne was too fast for her and was looking it over while Hermione nearly fell from twisting herself up in the pool of cloth and petticoats at her feet. She stepped free from the dress and into the pants that were just a little too tight in the back. The boots were long and the tops went up to her knees. They were not nearly as comfortable as the trainers she was discarding.

"And what be this for?" Anne asked.

Hermione tied the string that was at the front of the pants after she tucked the shirt in at the waist. She was unsure of how to answer and busied herself with the knot for a moment longer than needed. "Just a piece of wood," She eventually said, grabbing up the dress and hoping to look disinterested. She carefully pushed the small bag that held the time turners and other dresses into the top edge of the pants and then threw the vest on. Luckily it was long enough to cover the bit of fabric peeking out.

"If it's of no use to ya then we'll be tossing it," She said, turning around to the door.

"Wait!" A grin formed on Anne's face as she turned back to Hermione. It was too late to take it back now, but Hermione couldn't bear the thought of her wand being thrown overboard. "It's really useless, but I just like to have it on me." Anne could see right through her.

"Ya won't be tellin' me lies!" Bonny told her before pocketing the wand. "But I'll be keepin' this fer now." There was no way she could know just how badly she had just crippled Hermione. She was muggleborn; she could live without it. But she couldn't perform magic. And without magic, she and Draco would never get home.

There wasn't anything that could be done right now though. Anne had already opened the door and the last thing Hermione wanted to do was assault the first mate in front of everyone. She took one last look at the cabin to make sure she hadn't left anything behind. There was really nothing to be done with the dress, so she tossed it in front of the large trunk where her clothes had been pulled from. She noticed a wooden writing desk against the closest wall and a queen sized bed against the far one. There wasn't time to observe much else. Anne hollered for her to leave and Hermione obeyed.

Draco wasn't far away, he and some other crew member were talking about something and Anne, followed by Hermione, was by him in a flash. "I'll show ye to yer quarters," She informed them both before turning and heading toward a staircase near the front of the ship that led down below deck.

Too distracted with devising a plan of how to get her wand back, Hermione foolishly followed Anne down the stairs first, meaning Malfoy was certainly getting an eye full of her too tight bottoms. She stood as straight up as she could, but it didn't help the fact that they had already begun to ride up. When she reached the bottom she pulled the fabric down at the thighs to give her backside some relief.

Hermione glanced up at Malfoy's face, but he didn't seem to have noticed her at all. She didn't buy that for a second and decided to fall in step behind him just in case. They were led to a large hammock that hung low to the ground. It and the others were supported by pillars that ran the length of the deck. "Beins that you two be married and all, ya won't mind sharin' one bed." The muscles in Draco's face tightened. Hermione didn't know if it was at the thought of sharing a bed space with her or at the thought of this set of strings being called a bed.

"Thank you," Hermione said. Anne replied with a sneer.

"Dinner's at dusk. You'll be on night watch. I suggest sleepin' now." She finally left them alone and they looked to one another and then down at the woven rope bed that looked as though it had once held a large man and thus sagged more than a few other hammocks that were nearby.

Malfoy pulled out his wand but Hermione reached for his arm again. "If it looks any different from the others then we'll probably get in trouble."

"I'm not sleeping on _that_, Granger. Our house elves had better accommodations."

"Well I'm not the one who got us here. Now put your wand away and keep it hidden!" The urgency in her voice caused Malfoy to raise an eyebrow.

"Granger, where's your wand?" he asked slyly, looking over her new attire. When she didn't give him an answer except for looking to the side, he groaned. "You lost it, didn't you?"

"I did not lose it, she took it!" Hermione held up her hand and pointed at where Anne had disappeared back upstairs. "I couldn't help it." She spent the next ten minutes explaining the encounter.

Draco looked her over. "So you are wearing new clothes, I hadn't noticed." Hermione rolled her eyes but kept her comment to herself.

"Can we focus? I need my wand back and we're expected to keep watch after the sun goes down." She looked back at the hammock and then to the one above it. "Do you think anyone will mind if we just take two?"

"Besides the sea wench?" Draco asked. He had a point. And if the bed belonged to anyone else, Hermione didn't want to be found lying in it. She turned her head from left to right to see if she could spot anything that might make it more comfortable. But as she saw a few others dozing in their own hammocks, it seemed that they would be forced to keep warm with nothing but the clothes on their back.

Something bumped into Hermione's shins and she looked down to find Malfoy lying in the hammock, his hands clasped behind his head. "Excuse you!" she huffed, "You didn't sleep upright in an alleyway last night. I'm sleeping first."

"I'm not moving, Granger." He smiled widely, expressing his arrogance. Hermione's mouth grew tight around the edges, but without her wand there was little she could do.

"Now," Malfoy drawled. "You can either master the art of sleeping while you stand or you can be an adult and lay here next to me." Hermione gave him an incredulous look. "I'm not going to do anything." He looked at their surroundings. "At least not down here."

Even though she didn't want to, and even though every fiber of her being was telling her not to, Hermione slowly sat on the edge of the hammock before lying down alongside Malfoy. She folded her arms over her stomach and tried not to touch him, but the curve of the sleeping space forced them together in the middle.

"Night, Granger." Hermione could practically hear his smirk.

"Night, Malfoy," She muttered before closing her eyes.


	9. Chapter 9: A Taste of Piracy

**Chapter Nine: A Taste of Piracy**

A deafening boom sounded in the lower cabin area and someone yanked on the edge of the hammock causing Hermione and Draco to topple onto one another on the floor. "Get up, get up!" A low, raspy voice called out. "Cannon fire off the starboard side!" Everyone who had been previously snoozing was up on their feet and rushing to help load the cannons. Footsteps thudded on the deck above and sounded like thunder.

"If it's not too much to ask, Granger," Draco said from below her, "Would you mind GETTING OFF ME?" Hermione quickly picked herself up and looked around. She didn't have a clue as to what to do. Malfoy seemed equally confused but someone a little shorter than Hermione shoved them in the back toward a nearby pyramid of iron balls that were roughly the size of bludgers.

"Take em up on deck!" They were instructed by the same gruff voice that had woken them. Without hesitation, the two made their way over and began hauling the heavy cannon balls up the stairs. The sight that befell their eyes was breathtaking.

The sun had not yet set completely and the horizon was ablaze with orange and yellow. In the same direction, another ship was taking several hits from their own. It didn't have a pirate flag atop it, but Captain Rackham was vehemently shouting for its swift sinking. "Let 'em drown!" The man shouted, fury in his eyes as he watched members of the other crew abandon ship and jump to the salvation of the icy water. "Take what's ours, men!" He called out.

The_ Revenge_ had maneuvered closer and there were planks connecting the two ships. Pirates armed with swords balanced their way across and cut down those who were still defending the small ship. Soon there seemed to be none of the original crew left. Hermione had carried her cannon ball over to the closest cannon but had stopped to watch. There wasn't any more firing for a moment while the crates and anything else that could be carried were retrieved from the other vessel.

As soon as all crew mates were back on board though, two of whom were carrying a sizable locked chest, the cease fire ended. In a matter of seconds the small cargo ship was shot in two and began to sink below the water's surface. The men on deck cheered at their victory while Rackham and Bonny both approached the chest.

"Now what have we here?" He asked softly. The lock didn't give way under his hands nor did the cutlass he pulled from his belt do any good to pry the lid off.

"_Alohomora_." Hermione gasped and looked at Malfoy who had just whispered the spell and was now tucking his wand away. Everyone else had been looking at the chest while the captain hit the lock with the handle of a volunteered sword. The lock popped open and everyone leaned in a bit further. She bit her tongue and looked on with the others. She didn't like that he used magic like that, but no one seemed to be the wiser and now they could see what had been locked inside.

She didn't know what she had been expecting; gold coins and priceless gems maybe. That may be why it was a disappointment to only see bits of parchment be pulled out by the captain. But a steady rumble of more cheers began to ring out when the distinct jingling of metal could be heard. Beneath the layer of papers, probably receipts, roughly half of the chest held silver coins. "Yer gonna be paid, me harties!" The captain cried out before closing the lid and lifting the chest. "After it's counted, you'll be gettin' yer fair share!" He assured before taking the heavy load to his private room.

Though there seemed to be general good will among the crew, it didn't stop Bonny from following her captain closely. Everyone else on deck quickly began going through the crates and barrels brought on board. One held some sort of liquor and there was another rise of cheer. The next held peas and was promptly tossed overboard. The looting went on for a short while and then what Hermione suspected was dinner was served.

Large crates were brought up from down below. One contained potatoes and another held bananas that seemed to be overly ripe. Hermione wasn't usually one for raw foods, but it didn't seem she had much of a choice. She grabbed a potato and two bananas and headed back downstairs. Malfoy soon followed.

"Hand me your potato," he ordered. She didn't know what he was going to do with it and eyed him suspiciously as she handed it over. He help up his wand and whispered another spell. When he dropped it back into her palm, it felt warm.

"Thank you."

It was only now as she was trying to take a bite from the flash baked potato that Hermione realized her hands were shaking. She was startled by the battle that had just taken place; that she had just been a part of. The thought worried her. What if she would have to board another ship to search for cargo? What if she was expected to fight someone? She had hardly ever dueled, what good would she be with a sword? She sighed and stifled her worry with a large bite, potato skin and all. It wasn't bad.

Tonight they would be keeping watch. With any luck, there wouldn't be anything to watch for, what with all of the ruckus that had gone on already.


	10. Chapter 10: Message in a Bottle

**Chapter Ten: Message in a Bottle**

As Hermione had hoped, the night watch was almost eerily quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the waves lapping against the boat as it treaded through the water and an occasional loud snore coming from below deck. The majority of the crew was asleep. Only a few were on deck right now while one grisly older man kept watch in the crow's nest.

Just because it was silent didn't mean it was enjoyable. The air wasn't very cold or too hot, but it was moist. Hermione's hair was bushier than usual and the only thing keeping her thin white shirt from clinging to her was the ocean breeze that came and went. It could have been worse, she assumed.

The captain and first mate had long since gone to bed so Hermione and Draco considered it safe to talk so long as they kept away from the others keeping watch. They had no worries about the man at the top of the mast; they doubted he could hear much of anything from his position.

"Do you know where we're going?" Hermione asked, keeping close to the railing. The so called dinner she had earlier wasn't settling well in her stomach. Her hand protectively pressed against the boning of the corset.

Malfoy shook his head but then stopped. "I heard one of the blokes saying something about the eastern islands, but I wouldn't put too much stock in that. Apparently there's been a lot of Spanish activity in the area. I'm sure the one thing they want less than the British Navy is a bunch of British pirates." His voice was even as he looked out on the dark expanse of water. They couldn't see far, but that was the point. If they saw anything in the distance, light from a candle or torch on a ship, that's when there would be cause for alarm.

"You know, I've been thinking," Hermione finally said. Malfoy just kept staring out. "You should probably stop calling me Granger." His smirk told her that he knew exactly what she was talking about, but he still didn't say anything. "And I'll have to stop calling you Malfoy. The last thing we need is someone figuring out that we're not – what's that?"

Never one to cut off midsentence, Hermione was distracted by something she saw floating in the water. "What's what Gra- Hermione?" He tried to follow her line of sight but didn't see anything.

"Hand me your wand," she whispered. She checked over her shoulder to see if anyone was around. The closest person she saw was looking at a cannon on the other side of the deck.

"Over my dead body!" Draco whispered back. "You lost yours."

Whatever it was that was floating in the water was drifting to the back of the ship. Hermione noticed that it refracted the moonlight off a smooth edge. "No one is here to take it, just let me see it for five seconds!" He begrudgingly handed it over and watched as Hermione had some difficulty with the movements. "_Wingardium Leviosa_." Malfoy's wand was too foreign for her to attempt the spell without speaking.

At first she thought she had been off with her aim, but soon the item came floating up. She saw that it was a bottle and used the wand to reel it in like a fish. Her fingers wrapped around the wet glass and she noticed a roll of parchment inside. She handed Malfoy's wand back to him and uncorked the bottle. Her fingers worked to get the sheet out, but her body froze at the sound of boots coming down the deck in their direction.

"What do ye have there?" Anne asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"It's a bottle with something inside." Hermione admitted in a rushed voice, holding the quickly re-corked item out to the intimidating woman. Again her hand shook a little, but Bonny was far too interested with what she took from Hermione's hand. In one quick motion, she smashed the end of the bottle on the railing of the ship and pulled the parchment from inside before tossing the remainder of the glass overboard.

Anne unfurled the rolled up pages and her eyes swept over the top one. Hermione wanted a look but before she could even ask what it was Anne turned about and marched right back to the captain's quarters where she had come from.

"What do you suppose that was?"

Hermione shot one eyebrow up and looked at Draco before shrugging. It had to be useful or it would have gone overboard as well. "No telling where we'll be going now." She put her hands on the railing and leaned back only to have a sharp pain sear into her left palm.

"Ouch!" She said, squinting at the cut caused by a leftover piece of broken glass. A tiny bubble of blood came up and it began to pool in her palm. "Would you mind?" She asked, holding out her hand to the wizard beside her.

"I don't think I should." Hermione gave him a hard look but Draco only lifted his chin. She followed his line of sight and saw the same man who had been looking at the cannon idly walking near the stairs to the right of the captain's area on the other side of the deck. She narrowed her eyes at him and wondered the same thing as Draco. Had he alerted Bonny that she and Malfoy had found something? Were they being watched?

Just to be on the safe side, Hermione nodded and pulled the glass fragment from her hand without magic. Malfoy held out the handkerchief he had swiped from the shop and she wrapped it around the wound. He tied it tightly for her and then took off toward the bow of the ship. Some distance between the two might throw off any suspicion they had accumulated. Hermione cradled her left hand in her right and looked back up at the strange crew member. She could have sworn that he had turned his head away at the last minute.

**A/N: Woo hoo, an extra chapter for you all! You guys have been so great to me and this was probably the chapter that really helped me decide where I wanted the story to go. Hope you all enjoy. I believe I'll be able to upload a few more by this weekend, but somebody *ahem* was given a job in the costuming department of my university theater, so no promises because I don't want to let you down... Thanks again, everyone! And please review, even if it's just to point out to me something you found funny (I always appreciate knowing that I got the humor right).**


	11. Chapter 11: A Plan is Formulated

**AN: OH MY GOODNESS! Thank you all for your devotion thus far and due to the most horrible virus, my computer 1- wouldn't let me online, 2- Hid all my icons, 3- Attached to my booting system and got worse every time I turned the computer off and on, 4- Kicked out the people working on my computer, 5- eventually made me have my computer wiped and I now have NOTHING. THANK GOD for the Dramione remix that I initially**** uploaded this story to. I can still upload chapters! However I'm horridly tired from 16 hours of driving that I did this weekend and I have 2 exams over the next two days. SO, I have this chapter for you, just to prove I haven't forgotten you, but it'll be a few days before I can give you more.**

Chapter Eleven: A Plan is Formulated

Even if whatever was in the bottle was of interest to the captain, it didn't seem to have affected the ship's course. The east was still to their left when Draco and Hermione went back to the upper deck the next afternoon. Their shift had ended at day break and they had fallen back to sleep almost instantaneously, not bothering to bicker about the shared hammock. Hermione pondered their direction and wondered why they would be heading to South America. If there was trouble with Spain on the eastern islands, surely there would be even more on the continent they were claiming for themselves. She shook her head and gave up. They were without much of a plan for returning home, why bother attempting to unravel the thoughts of the sea psycho that was the second in command?

A few weeks later Hermione watched as Bonny stood right beside the captain at the helm. Her face was stern and she watched those working with a hawk like stare Madame Pince would have been proud of. Rackham seemed to look only on the sails, the water, and occasionally an eye would drift to the woman at his side. A wave of realization finally hit Hermione; they were together!

It should have been obvious when Hermione went into their room and Anne's clothing trunk was there. It also made more sense that, even though she was a woman, not one person dared to lay a hand on her. Then again, Hermione doubted Anne would have taken that from anyone she didn't give express permission. Still, she was somewhat taken aback by the thought.

"Hermione, pay attention, you've been scrubbing that spot for a quarter of an hour now." Looking down, she noticed Draco was right. The five inch stretch of wood was clean, but she had been going back and forth over it with a rag for so long that there weren't any soap suds left. She dunked it into the cleaning bucket and moved on.

"What were you staring at anyway?" Draco asked, looking up at the raised deck. "I didn't know you fancied the captain, or have you switched to girls?" His quiet laugh was cut short when her wet wash rag smacked into his arm and flung water onto his front.

Hermione looked rather smug with herself. "I don't fancy one person on this ship," she informed him. "I'm just trying to figure out how to get home. Or do you intend to live the rest of our lived 'swabbin' the decks'?" She grabbed her rag back and continued the chore, "I had another look at those markings, by the way." She had spent any spare time she got looking at the sketches, barely making heads or tails, even with the largest rune reference book she owned that she kept in the beaded bag.

Draco gave her a look that meant she should continue. "I don't have any sort of exact translation, but the gist is in the quality of the sand. Even the magical sand on the beach was comprised of various elements found in the rock that had been worn down." Another look sent her way told her to speed along. "I think we need a very concentrated element, something pure. My first guess would be something like gold or silver, but I can't imagine where we could get any that is in the form of sand. Also - "

"Do you realize how much you talk?" Hermione glared at him; did he not even care about their task of getting home? But Draco wasn't looking at her, his eyes were following a pair of wandering blokes that were sloshing water out of their buckets as they passed.

It was hard for them to hold much of a conversation. Even when they were down near their hammock or when they had to go below that to the cargo area, it seemed that there were crew mates everywhere. The only time they had had to themselves was that first night and even that had been interrupted. Both Draco and Hermione had been keeping an eye out for the one that they suspected had ratted them out about the bottle. He never seemed to stay in one place for very long, but hopped around from one task to another. Draco speculated that he was doing more spying on people. Hermione didn't want to think the worst, but she came to the same conclusion.

At the moment he was too close for either of them to chance a relevant discussion. Only a few meters away he seemed to be tightening some of the rigging for the main sail. Neither of them had a really good look at his face, but he wore an unmistakable hat with three points and what looked like gold trim. Otherwise he was the same as everyone else; pants, shirt, vest. Hermione noted with some disdain that the males all seemed to have vests or jackets that covered their chests, if they chose to wear tops at all that is.

"He's gone," Draco told her. She didn't look up to double check and instead pretended to engrossed in her work. "What are we going to do about your wand?"

Hermione sighed and soaked her cloth again before wringing it out and slapping it back down on the wood. "I don't know. We can't just summon it. She'll see it if we do it on deck and if she's ever in her room it would have to break through the door to get out." Hermione doubted that it would go unnoticed. She looked back up at Anne. "But I don't think she carries it on her." She began to chew on her bottom lip as a plan formulated. "If we could just get inside her cabin…" She whispered, finally looking up to see if anyone was around. Luckily there was a small row going on behind her. Three men were arguing over something and attention was diverted.

"You're mad, Grang- Hermione," Malfoy told her. She noticed that most of the deck around him was fairly dry. Typical, he wasn't doing any work at all. "We can't just sneak in there and take something."

Hermione's harsh glare bore into him. "I am not taking one step off this ship until my wand is back in my hand," She told him forcefully. She hated being separated from it as long as she had. Though she didn't rely on her wand as much as most wizards, after several days of being unable to perform even a simple spell, she was beginning to feel as though she had lost a good friend. What she'd give to be able to _scourgify_this blasted deck right now.

They both silently continued what they had been doing; Hermione scrubbing rhythmically while Draco attempted to do the least amount of work possible. He was the first to speak. "We'll do it while they're asleep," He informed her. Her eyes widened and she peered around to make sure no one had wandered their way in the last few seconds. "Just listen. All we have to do is brew a sleeping draught."

"And where do you propose we pick up wormwook and a sloth brain? Aside from that, I think someone would notice if you set up a cauldron on deck." Did he really think performing magic like that in the muggle world would be so simple?

"Relax, I can conjure the ingredients. Unlike you, I don't let mere muggles take my wand." Instantly infuriated, Hermione gripped the rag in her hand harder than before and attempted to scrub a hole right through the floorboard.

"Well then, I'll leave it to you. It only takes two hours, I dare say it'll be ready to administer by dinner." Her lips formed a thin line then and she refused to say another word. They were eventually excused from cleaning the deck and were instructed to separate areas of the ship. Hermione went downstairs while Draco was taught to clean the cannons on the upper deck.


	12. Chapter 12: Potion a Brewin'

**A/N: Thank you all again for the lovely reviews and all of the alerts! I love logging in to my email and seeing how many of you are excited for the next little bit. I hope you stick with it, as the plot starts moving a little faster. You're almost to the half way point!**

Chapter 12: Potion a Brewin'

Hermione saw little of Draco for the rest of the afternoon, which she took to be a good sign. With any luck he had found a private area somewhere on the ship to work. The sun was starting to set and her stomach growled painfully; supper was soon. Hopefully they would be dining on something more appetizing than spuds. She sighed quietly and then jumped when she felt a hand grasp her shoulder.

"Draco I –" but when she turned her head she found it wasn't Draco at all. Bonny was leering at her with a small grin on her face.

"I'm not yer precious, I'm afraid, but you'll be comin' with me." She tightened her grip and began leading them to the captain's quarters again. A feeling like a cold hand gripped her heart. Had they been discovered? Sweat began to acquire on her forehead along the hairline. They passed through the door and Hermione prepared to see Draco with his hands tied behind his back on the floor before Rackham. But it was as empty of other persons as the last time she had been taken here.

Bonny released Hermione and walked over to her trunk of clothes again. Hermione didn't understand; did she need a new outfit? Surely it couldn't matter out here on the ocean. But rather than being handed a new vest or trousers, Bonny held out what seemed to be a long stretch of plain fabric, much like a thin table cloth. Hermione's eyebrows came together as she looked at the cloth.

"Take off the corset and wrap this around yerself." The redhead explained. When Hermione still looked perplexed she continued. "Ya can't be goin' ashore looking like a lass. Now wrap it tight and be done with it." Hermione's mouth fell open for a moment before she clenched her jaw. There would be no talking Bonny out of the idea, so Hermione turned away in an attempt at modesty and did as she was told, her fingers tugging on the strings.

During the process her eyes searched frantically, looking for where her wand might be hidden. The quick sweep showed her nothing and it felt like a stone settled in her stomach; she was going to have to search in and around everywhere at some point. Thankfully there were only two trunks besides the one with Anne's clothing. There was also a door at the end of the large bed. She didn't have time to discern what was in there.

When she had redressed, Hermione noticed how odd the vest hung as it previously hugged the curvy area that she had just concealed. She pursed her lips together and carefully set the rigid undergarment next to the trunk. "I'd like that back, if you please," she said in a clipped tone.

"If ya make it back on board, it's yers." Bonny told her, reaching up to grab a tricorne hat from a peg on the wall. It suddenly dawned on Hermione why she had been brought in here. They were going on shore? Everyone? That must be why they hadn't had dinner yet. "Tuck yer hair in," Bonny instructed as she shoved the hat onto Hermione's head.

"Erm, Anne, why are we going ashore?" Hermione asked, her fingers pushing her wild curls up into the curve of the hat.

She was met with narrowed eyes. "That's none of yer business. Juss go out there and bring somethin' back worth havin' and not before." She turned and began marching toward the door. Hermione was aghast. She was going to have to steal something from wherever they were about to dock! She felt her heart clench again when she realized their plan to retrieve her wand would have to wait for another night. But she couldn't let Bonny see her disappointment and steadily marched behind her, her mind reeling with possible solutions to her new predicament.

The sun was now sinking below the horizon and off to the south a sliver of land could be seen. They would be upon it within the hour if the wind kept up. Hermione began to fret. The men were shouting and excitement buzzed throughout the deck. She didn't see Malfoy, which both comforted and worried her. She couldn't wait for him. If he had been hiding out for the last few hours brewing a potion, chances were good that he had no idea what was going on.

As quietly as she could, Hermione stole down the stairs. One quick glance told her that he wasn't in the sleeping area. She searched the remainder of this deck but found no sign of him. She went below to the cargo hold, but there was no scent of potion in the air. Where could he be? It wasn't as if there were many places to hide on a ship. The only place left was the room adjacent to the cargo space. Frankly, she didn't know what was in there, but an attempt to turn the knob told her that it was locked.

"Malfoy? Malfoy! If you're in there, open up!" She said in a quick and loud whisper. No one appeared to have followed her, but that didn't mean she would be alone for long. "Draco Malfoy, open this door, now!" She was prepared to find something that would remove the hinges but she heard a click and needed no more conformation. She opened the door just enough to slip through and shut it behind her. Another click told her that he had used his wand to lock it.

The thickness of the air caused Hermione to choke a little. Fumes from the potion were mingling with the smoke from the fire below the cauldron. Hermione didn't question how the fire wasn't damaging the wooden floor; she didn't care. She coughed again and then sat down next to the man who was illuminated only by the fire and his wand light. Her back pressed against something cold. She turned and saw metal bars; they were in the brig. He cast a quick glance at her and smirked. "New look?"

"Malfoy, is it nearly ready? We're supposed to be going ashore in an hour or less." She was feeling too frantic and panicky to bother with his comment. She checked the state of the potion to see how far along he was. Her eyes darted back and forth from the cauldron to his face while she wrung her hands together.

Clearly unhappy with being interrupted, he stayed quiet while he counted his stirs. "I ran into a bit of a problem with the summoning spell. Borgin and Burkes hasn't been there as long as I thought. Thankfully the apothecary is as ancient as it claims." He dumped in what looked to be sopophorous bean juice.

Hermione gasped. "You _stole_these?" She accused, gesturing toward the ingredients next to him.

"I'll send them back when I'm done. Besides," he sneered at her, "would you rather fight the muggle wench with your bare hands to get your wand back?" Hermione shut up for the moment, but then was reminded of the fact that their plan was ruined for the night.

"We'll have to keep it until tomorrow. There's no telling when we'll get back on the ship and it's doubtful that anyone will be sleeping." Though she had never participated in something like this raid, she assumed the crew would be far too excited to head straight to their hammocks. Malfoy was too busy pouring the potion and corking the bottle he put it in. Hermione pulled out her bag and tucked the bottle carefully inside while Malfoy sent the ingredients and cauldron away. They stood and moved toward the door.

"Best to wait until the fewest eyes possible are watching," She told him, stepping through.

The sight before her made her stop in her tracks. Bonny was standing right before them, but Hermione didn't miss the man who had turned them in that first night before duck behind a nearby crate. "Oh, ye have got more than eyes to be worrin' about now, missy."


	13. Chapter 13: A Pirate's Life Not For Me

Chapter Thirteen: A Pirate's Life; Not for Me

"An juss what were ye doin' in there?" Bonny snarled, looking back and forth between the pair.

Hermione's mind went blank as she attempted to come up with a viable excuse but Draco seemed to be three steps ahead of her. "Well it's a bit obvious isn't it?" He asked. He took a step closer to Hermione and snaked his hand around her back and rested it on her hip. "We were after a bit of privacy." Hermione's cheeks burned with embarrassment at the insinuation.

Bonny smirked. "Well this ain't yer weddin' night so get up on deck and don't let me catch ya down here again!" Hermione scuttled past as fast as she could, freeing herself from Malfoy's hand. She didn't look back at him until they had both surfaced and the fresh salty air hit her face. She walked briskly to the nearby railing and gripped it tightly. The shoreline was much closer, but much less distinct due to the darkness of nightfall.

"Problem, _Hermione_?" Draco asked smirking. He was just as close as he had been a minute before while under the scrutinizing eyes of Anne. His hands stayed on his own person though. "I didn't know your tough Gryffindor exterior could be cracked so easily. Especially considering the fact that we didn't _do_anything." Hermione looked determinedly away from him, but Draco just circled around behind her and leaned on the railing on her left. "Now, had she caught us in the middle of some-"

Hermione quickly cut him off. "Had she caught us in the middle of anything I should hope her first reaction would be to cut your wand arm off so as to stop you from cursing me into submission." She blushed further realizing that hadn't come out at all like she had intended. She shook her head and stood to her full height. "Just, go do whatever we're supposed to be doing on shore and we'll deal with the potion tomorrow night."

Malfoy looked somewhat put out about not being able to finish his goading, but his face suddenly tensed and his eyes locked onto something behind Hermione. She turned slowly, leaning her back into the banister but at first didn't see anything. "We'll need to be more careful about that one," he said, and Hermione finally noticed the man with the hat sharpening his short, curved sword.

Hermione raised her eyebrows and looked back at Draco. "D'you suppose he's being told to watch us?" Were all new crew members observed as closely as she and Malfoy were?

"He'd better keep a fair distance from now on or I might be slipping something a little stronger than a sleeping potion into his evening meal," Malfoy threatened before walking away. They were nearly to shore now and all hands had been called up to prepare the small boats that would be used for loading cargo up onto the ship. The sleepy town that they were pulling into had very little light; the residents must have been those that rise and fall with the sun.

Once _Revenge_was close enough that the bottom began to scrape along the sand below, anxious crew members began using loose rope to swing themselves down into the water or lowered themselves by the small row boats. Hermione tried to stay back, hoping that some people would be expected to stay on board. Someone had to guard it, protect it from being taken over by… something. But more and more men jumped off and even Rackham and Bonny were making toward the edge of the ship. The fiery red head looked about ready to yell an order, but the Captain gave Hermione a look that lit a fire under her backside and got her moving to the bow which had been pushed all the way up on shore.

Never having had much upper body strength, using the thick, coarse rope wasn't appealing in the slightest. Rather, Hermione followed one man who was using the rope ladder she had been forced to climb up upon arriving. The climb down was significantly easier in pants though her hat threatened to tip off. She had to hold on to it with one hand. Behind her she could hear the sounds of shouting, the pirates and villagers were very distinct.

By the time she made it down to the sand, it seemed that half of the crew was on their way back. One small ship was already half loaded with small wooden crates and one man was running her direction with a gleeful expression. The metal box emanated loud rasping noises as the metal contents shifted around while he ran. Hermione stood horrified, unsure of what she should do. If only she had her wand, she might have been able to help these people.

Thinking of her wand, Hermione looked back and forth so see if she could spot Bonny or the Captain, but both seemed to have disappeared in the darkness. Not wanting to stand around and somewhat curious as to where Malfoy had run off to, Hermione began attempting to run up the shore line. Her boots dug into the sand and it took twice as long as it should have. Up ahead there were gunshots fired and it made her freeze where she stood before running to the left to hide amid the large tropical tree line that ran behind the small town.

By the sound of the commotion, both the pirates and villagers were equipped with fire power. Hermione had never shot a gun in her life; she had never needed to. Even if she wanted to aid either side, she was completely overpowered. Frustrated, hungry, tired and completely sick of this whole damn adventure she had been forced into, Hermione leaned her back into a tree trunk and sank to the ground. Her legs curled up to her chest and her head fell on to her knees.

Screams ripped through the night air and children could be heard crying. Hermione put her hands up to cover her ears but it was hopeless. The sound of shattering glass and breaking doors brought on flashes of the Battle of Hogwarts. It was like reliving a nightmare, only this time she could do nothing to help. Facing Voldemort had been easy in comparison. She had had friends, she had had power. Right now, she felt utterly alone. It terrified her.

The battle raged on behind her; try as she might she couldn't block out the screams and shouts of men and women. Many were fleeing into the forest, some dangerously close to where she was hiding; she didn't care. She couldn't even bring herself to lift her head. It wasn't until a hand fell on her shoulder and a voice spoke near her ear that she even realized she had been crying. She attempted to wipe away the tear without the person noticing.

"Hermione, get up, we have to get back to the ship, NOW!" Malfoy grabbed under her upper arm and began to tug. Only by the strength that she didn't even know she had did Hermione get up off the ground and allow herself to be led back to the large vessel. The men on board were cheering in victory and their plunder and success. The cries from the wounded and desperate faded in and out behind her.

Off to her left a flash of Bonny's bright red hair hardly registered to the woman walking in a stupor. But with the flash that was emitted when she shot her pistol in the air and commanded everyone return to the ship, Hermione did see a small box cradled in her left arm. She didn't have the mental strength to put any significance to the sight and just kept moving.

"Are you hurt?" He asked, leading Hermione toward the rope ladder. She didn't say anything, just shook her head. Her feet sloshed in the tide water that had come up. The boat rocked slightly. More tears had started falling, but she allowed herself to be pushed up as her hands barely clung to the cords. "Move it, Hermione," Malfoy hissed furiously from below, giving her a firm shove. Eventually she made it up the side of the ship.

The both of them were hardly noticed amid the shouts and hollers of the men. Some had their swords raised, others had mugs in hand, and others still were prying open barrels. It was a bit of a premature celebration considering they were still stuck in the sand, but a great wind picked them up in that moment. The sails expanded and the great _Revenge_pulled itself free of the shore line.

Hermione couldn't have cared less. She all but fell down the stairs and over to her hammock. She didn't care that she could sense someone following her and she couldn't hear what he was saying. All she could feel were the interlaced ropes holding her sagging frame once she slumped into the bed and fell over. She didn't bother to remove her boots or the wrapping around her chest.

Her eyes remained closed and leaked quiet tears as a blanket fell over her and a warm body pressed up next to her. Draco didn't try to say any comforting words. He didn't reach his arm around to hold her. He didn't really even look at her. But he was there and he stayed there until her lightly trembling form, exhausted from the days of stress and frustration, finally lay still.


	14. Chapter 14: Further Setbacks

Chapter Fourteen: Further Setbacks

There was no need for the couple to take watch that night as most of the men were beside themselves with cheer and merriment. When Hermione finally awoke, her face coated with dried tears, she noticed she was much warmer than usual. The blanket that was on her, a luxury no one else on board had, must have been conjured last night after she had lain down. If anyone bothered to ask, she'd just say she had stolen it the night before.

She didn't remember much after stepping onto the land. Her head throbbed slightly and the sounds came back. All of the cries and shots of the gory scene that she didn't let herself watch. She closed her eyes and tried to block it all out. She had been so weak, had been so… She shook her head and opened her eyes again. Malfoy was lying next to her, his hands clasped together on top of his stomach. He looked very peaceful. The bags under his eyes told Hermione he hadn't gotten hardly any sleep.

There were many heavy snores filling the room around them and Hermione could see sunlight streaming down through the opening above the stairs. She wanted to move. She needed to be productive to put the nightmare of the night before behind her. But she couldn't bring herself to stir Draco and it didn't seem as though anyone was needed on deck. As if suddenly hit by a spell, Hermione's eyes felt heavy. She once again dozed off, her head resting against Draco's shoulder.

Hermione's second attempt at waking up was much more successful. It seemed she and Draco were not the only ones worn out after all the excitement the night before. But if she didn't want Bonny storming down the stairs and dumping them out of the hammock like had been done to them before, they would need to get up on deck and do… anything really. No doubt there was a mess after last night. The deck would need to be scrubbed of spilled rum for starters.

Slowly her hand snaked up out from under the blanket and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She felt bad for waking Draco, but hopefully he had gotten a bit of sleep since the last time she tried to get up. She pulled the outer edge of the blanket up and over herself, then down onto the man dozing next to her. Her calculated movements went to waste as she tried to stand though. The displacement of weight caused him to roll over and start at the sudden movement.

A bit of his hair stuck out in the back and his shoulders sagged, but Malfoy's eyes were alert and looking around the room. After realizing there was no immediate danger, he ran his hand through his hair and promptly fixed the small disaster in the back before pulling up the blanket. "I'm just going upstairs to have a look and help out. You can stay if you want," Hermione said in a soothing tone. He just shook his head and nimbly climbed out of the woven rope trap before walking past her.

Hermione and Draco kept far away from one another for the remainder of the day. Every so often Hermione would get the urge to go and find him, to discuss the plan she told herself. She desperately needed her wand back. She could care less now about returning home. What she wanted was to feel like a witch again. She needed to perform a spell, just a little one, to remember how it felt. To feel the fluid motion of the wand and her hand, joined seamlessly and working together in perfect sync to produce pure, delightful magic.

As soon as she looked in Draco's direction though, her cheeks flared with relentless embarrassment. Though he hardly showed it, Hermione assumed that he also felt ashamed for his uncharacteristic behavior. She couldn't be sure of much else as he gave no further indication of his thoughts than to keep at a distance.

A few hours passed and Hermione considered going through with the plan on her own. Dishing out the sleeping draught would be difficult, but not impossible. The captain and first mate generally had better quality food that was prepared for some time before sundown. She could manage to distract the cook and slip in the brew.

The challenge would be phase two: entering the cabin without being noticed. Even if Rackham and Bonny did sleep with the door unlocked, Hermione couldn't just walk right in. No doubt the man with the hat would be on guard; he hadn't gotten her into trouble today. No, a powerful dillusionment charm was a necessity. Considering most of the men on this ship never seemed to have held a toothbrush, much less a wand, Draco Malfoy was the only man for the job.

"Draco." Hermione had finally plucked up the courage to say something. She found him working alone downstairs on their hammock. Some strings were fraying and it hung lower to the ground than ever before. His hands stopped what they were doing for a half second and then continued. As he hadn't told her to leave, Hermione went on. "I wanted to talk about tonight." She kept her voice low. No one seemed to be around, but it wouldn't be the first time she had thought that and been wrong.

"It shouldn't be tonight," Draco cut in. He forcefully tugged on the lack wrapped around the pillar.

Hermione's eyes grew wide. He wanted her to wait longer? "Tonight is as good a night as any!" She hissed. "If you think I'm going to wait around for her to just give it back, you are sorely mistaken." She would like to see him go ten minutes without his wand. Hermione crossed her arms and opened her mouth to continue, but Draco found the moment of silence to be an opportune time to interject.

"And just what do you plan to do when she notices it's missing?" Draco finally turned about and looked down at her. His eyes were like solid steel, unkind and cold. "She'll know it was you and that you had to have broken into that room to get it." He gripped her upper arms tightly. "What do you think she'll do then, Hermione?"

He was right, absolutely right. Bonny was harsh and ruthless. There would be no point in attempting the recovery of her wand now if only to be discovered by midday tomorrow. "When?" Hermione asked meekly. Every cold truth that was hitting her seemed to be cutting deeper than usual. She needed to have her wand back; she felt less human without it.

Malfoy released her and took a step back to put some space between them. "We should arrive on another island within a few days," He told her vaguely before side stepping her entirely and moving toward the stairs that led up. As he did, he passed the man with the three point hat and glanced back at Hermione, who followed him out. She didn't want to be alone with that man and she didn't fancy missing a meal.

**A/N: It's rather fun reliving this story! I hope you can all forgive me for the large breaks between posts. I'll have more chapters up as soon as I have some free time! Until then, please review!**


	15. Chapter 15: Losing Control

**AN: I apologize for my inability to update with any regularity. I've had a very heavy school schedule and I promise I haven't forgotten this story or any of you that have been kind enough to leave reviews. Also, to anyone I haven't gotten around to it, I want to send out a huge thank you to those who added me and this story to their alerts and favourites lists!**

Chapter Fifteen: Losing Control

Days passed and Hermione slipped further into herself. It had been two months or more, she had quit keeping track of the days, since the last time she had cast a spell. More than once she had fantasized about taking Draco's. Deep in her heart she knew that taking another wizard's wand outside of a duel was a lowly crime to commit. All the same, it was very tempting. And as the days drew on, Hermione found her resolve weakening. Eventually, she couldn't come up with a logical reason not to when her mind offered so many good points as to why she should.

The pair was lying side by side in their hammock after having finished another night time watch. Hermione had been relieved to see the sun rise again without any chaos erupting in the night. The two never spoke on the hammock; it would only worsen the awkwardness they had both been pretending wasn't there. So Hermione closed her eyes and welcomed sleep, but it never came. Draco, on the other hand, was breathing deeply in a matter of minutes.

She didn't act immediately. The loyal and honest part of Hermione wasn't quite dead yet. She knew that what she was thinking of was wrong and there was no possible way that it could end well if he found out. A voice whispered in her ear that he never would need to find out. She would only borrow the wand for a moment or two. She could cast a quick heating charm over them or something else that would go unnoticed by the crew and the sleeping man at her side.

Eventually the desire to do magic was greater than her will to sit and suffer for another single minute. Her eyes still closed, Hermione slid her right hand up and over her stomach. The fingertips ghosted over the fabric that covered his right side. There was nothing in his right jacket pocket or trouser pocket. She wasn't surprised; even she kept her wand on her left in order to grab it easily with her right hand. Still, her task had become that much more difficult. Undeterred, the hand continued to carefully roam.

The space between the threads of the hammock and her right shoulder grew as Hermione turned more and more. Her wrist had just passed over where she suspected his belly button was and she was about to dip into the far pocket to reach for the solid length of wood when a sudden pain in her wrist caused her to freeze. Her eyes flew open and followed the pale fingers that had latched on to her with a painful grip, Hermione gasped when she saw that Draco was the one holding on to her and was giving her a very pointed stare, but otherwise looked calm. It terrified Hermione.

Ever so slowly the grip on her slackened. Hermione was afraid to look, but she was certain there were marks from where his fingers had held her. She couldn't string together an explanation, but Draco remained silent. "Sorry," she finally mumbled, quickly pulling her hand away from any part of his body. "Lost control for a moment." She examined the way her boots rested in some of the holes created by the crossing pattern of the hammock. She also noted how dark the wood of the floor was and how the morning sun shone down through the hole in the upper deck that the stairs led up to.

Hermione couldn't bear to look at his face. She knew his calm features would sooner or later turn furious and she half expected that he would yell at her or demand that she be thrown overboard for thievery. She awaited the worst but it never came. Steeling her nerves, Hermione looked back up at Draco only to find him still staring. He looked bored though. "What are you staring for?" Hermione suddenly asked.

For a half second Hermione swore that a smile was about to form on Draco's face, but it never settled. Instead he just shook his head. "Pardon me for being alarmed that you were feeling me up. Far be it from me to have any personal space." He folded his arms protectively over his stomach and closed his eyes again. Hermione's mouth hung open.

"I was doing no such thing," Hermione insisted, pushing herself up onto her left elbow so that she wouldn't have to keep stretching her neck to see him. Draco half raised one eyelid and gave her a look before sighing.

"I don't know what your lot did all those years in Gryffindor tower, but it isn't normal to just run your hand along someone else's nicely toned body while they're sleeping." Hermione's cheeks were aflame at what he was insinuating. "Furthermore, it's rude to pretend you didn't do something when you were caught in the act. At least have the guts to fess up."

Hermione sighed, he was certainly right about that. "Alright, fine."

"So you admit that you can't keep your hands off me." Draco smirked widely as he laced his fingers behind his head.

Hermione scoffed in disgust. "Hardly, I was reaching for your wand and – "

"Well you weren't taking the most direct route. Tell me, were you taking a detour or do you really have no idea that it was a little lower?" His smugness only helped confuse the former Gryffindor. Her eyebrows knit together as she tried to piece together what he said. It wasn't until she retraced the path her hand took with her eyes and allowed them to wander a bit lower. Settling just below the strings on his trousers, Hermione made a strangled noise and jumped right up out of the hammock.

"No, no, absolutely not." Her face was absolutely on fire now and she wiped at her sleeves and smoothed the bottom of her vest as though trying to wash away a nasty substance that had spilled on her. "No." She said again firmly before walking upstairs. There wasn't any way to get enough distance between him and her at the moment, but Hermione was willing to try.


	16. Chapter 16: Tonight

Chapter Sixteen: Tonight

Draco continued to smirk as he watched Hermione make a hasty retreat. Even all these years after leaving Hogwarts, it still felt great to know that he could get under her skin. Of course he knew what she was doing. If their roles had been reversed, he would have stolen her wand the very same day his was taken; he was surprised it had taken her so long. All the same, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to make her squirm.

Quickly pushing away all thoughts that he had been implying, Draco stood and stretched subtly. Malfoys didn't shove their arms upward and let their mouths hang slack in a yawn like most. Instead he took a deep breath in and rolled his shoulders before following Hermione's trail up into the sunlight.

It took a moment to find her. The bright light dazzled his eyes and he was forced to hold his hand up to make a shield. The many bodies on deck also made it difficult to pick her out, even if she was one of the only two women on board. Eventually he found her though, leaning against the railing near the very front of the ship. His mind toyed with the idea of digging at her some more by coming up behind her and placing his arms on either side of her stiff body, but he quickly tossed the idea out. Even with the shiny blonde hair being tossed about by the wind, she was still Granger.

"Tonight." Draco's voice sliced through any thoughts she may have been pondering and caused her to jump. He was satisfied with the reaction and stood right next to her to rest his hands on the railing. He could see out of the corner of his eye that he had confused her and took great pleasure in watching her make sense of his vague statement. "We should hit land tomorrow, or so says the captain," he further explained. It hadn't been announced to everyone, Draco had overheard Rackham saying as much to one of the larger, most muscled men. He had been one of the few that boarded the ship they sank a day outside of Port Royal.

Slowly turning his head to face her, Draco narrowed his eyes. "Try to get some sleep before hand." He turned his back to her and muttered, "And try to not break down crying this time."

Instantly Hermione's eyes narrowed to slits and she shot daggers at Malfoy's back. "You have some nerve, Draco." Her voice was icy and quiet, but he heard it even over the harsh waves the ship was cutting through. It was her turn to be menacing.

"And you seem to have lost all of yours," h countered. Draco retraced his steps to her side in order to keep their conversation between just the two of them. "What's the matter, Granger? Feeling like a muggle?" He had her pegged, and she knew he knew.

Hermione's teeth ground together. She had developed such restraint since she first started working with him and they had been getting along so well under the forced circumstances. Why was he now reverting back to the arrogant school boy she had slapped in 3rd year? The memory of the incident brought a small smile to her lips, one that caused Draco to give her a wary look.

"Just drop it, Draco." She crossed her arms and all apprehension melted away from Draco's features. His face was relaxed, save for a small smirk. She was being defensive; he still held the power.

"Whatever you say, Hermione." He moved away again, but stopped after taking three steps. "Tonight," He repeated, not even bothering to turn and look. Hermione didn't say anything. She turned around and leaned back into the railing. All she could do was wait for nightfall.

It seemed as if the sun was privy to the plot and took its time setting. Even with the ship heading East, Hermione could feel the long hours stretching on and on to the last possible minute. There was one small task to take care of before everyone went to bed, however, and as grey clouds grew thick and floated past up above, she slowly made her way down the deck to the set of double stairs that wound up to the high deck where the captain and Bonny could usually be found.

At present, neither could be seen at the wheel. Hermione shot a glance to the closed door of their cabin and wondered briefly what they might be up to in private. Shaking her head, she focused on what she had set out to do. Already she had slipped the small bottle of sleeping draught out of the beaded bag. It wasn't an easy task as she wanted to keep the purse hidden from anyone who might spot it. Even if she hadn't had to bury her arm up to her elbow, it was something that was likely to be stolen if anyone thought it held something of value.

There was one man, bare chested and tanned to a dark leather brown, clinging tightly to the pegs of the wheel. The wind had been picking up speed all afternoon and Hermione seriously doubted that the small turns being made actually did anything to change the course of the _Revenge_. But that man was of little interest to Hermione. Her eyes quickly dropped from him and found her real target. A scrawny man with a make shift apron was sifting through a crate that had been brought up on deck and was searching through it for the best produce.

Taking a steadying breath, Hermione began sauntering up the stairs that would put her closest to the cook. Her hips swayed languidly and perhaps a bit excessively. The man at the wheel gave her a hard look which she returned with a coy smile before making a bee line for the smaller man. She had never been particularly good at lying, but her desperation was making almost anything seem possible. Hermione placed her hands on the edge of the crate and leaned forward, causing her backside to stick out.

"Could you use any help?" Hermione offered sweetly. She watched as the cook seemed to notice her for the first time. His movements were quick jerks and he seemed to be breathing very rapidly. Hermione was fleetingly reminded of Pettigrew before she tossed the images aside. The man shook his head, but she pressed on, "I'm a great cook, and I have nothing to do down there." Her mouth formed a small pout and she gave him a soft look with her large brown eyes.

The man stopped for a moment, as if to consider her offer, but then shook his head again and went back to work. Hermione noticed that there was a small wooden table set up behind the wheel and it had two crude table settings already prepared. She knew if she got close to it that one of the men would hold her up and maybe even report her to the captain.

All of the sudden, the large man at the wheel called out to the cook. "Go downstairs and get another crate." Hermione and the rat-like man shared looks of confusion, but the smaller of the two didn't think twice about disobeying. He took off quickly down the steps while Hermione scrutinized the large man's face. He stared ahead blankly and his eyes had a distant look to them.

Taking advantage of her good fortune and Draco's impeccable timing, she flitted to the back of the platform and dumped half of the bottle into each goblet set up on the table. Just as she turned to leave, however, a particularly large wave hit the side of the boat, sending some of the place setting crashing to the floor, one of the goblets included. Frantic, she picked it up and poured half of what was in the other cup into the now empty one. It was only half a dose for each, but they didn't have time to make another batch. Hopefully it would last at least an hour or two. Hermione cast a wary glance at the sinking sun currently hidden behind thick clouds.

Before she could be caught near the dining table for the captain and Bonny, Hermione skirted to the railing and followed it all the way down to the main deck. The cook gave her a suspicious look as he carried a small crate up the stairs. She gave him a grin and a wink in response before looking around for Draco. Like it or not, she couldn't have done it without him, even if he had used an unforgivable curse on the man steering the ship.


	17. Chapter 17: Reunited and it Feels so Goo

Chapter Seventeen: Reunited and it Feels so Good

The dinner hour had Hermione on pins and needles. Every three seconds she would look up to see the captain and first mate dining only to look away hurriedly in case anyone saw her. It was a good distraction to the tasteless "meal" the rest of the crew was dining on. She hadn't even bothered to look at it. Her stomach disagreed with it either way, but she could pretend it was something better than moldy fruit or uncooked vegetables.

Sometime Draco would take her food and use his wand to heat it or otherwise make it better. Tonight he sat across the ship and ate his own food in silence, pointedly ignoring Hermione. They had agreed to stay away from one another for the remainder of the day; they always seemed to get caught when they were together.

The clouds that had been gathering all day finally let tiny drops of water fall. There was no cause for panic, but the water was irritating and sent several of the men to bed earlier than usual. Hermione glared at the back of one man who lit a lantern in order to continue his card game. He ignored the fact that the water was ruining his playing cards. Hermione smiled triumphantly when he finally bet all he had and lost. It was with a sigh of relief that she watched his retreating figure lumber down the stairs.

Eventually it was only the man with the three point hat, the man in the crow's nest, Hermione, Draco, and a few others that had been instructed to stay on deck in case the storm worsened. They were huddled together about half way up the ship so Draco and Hermione slipped downstairs unnoticed. For a fleeting moment Hermione feared that their absence might be noticed, but she found she didn't care. Perhaps it would even draw Anne away from her room; should she wake up. So driven was Hermione at this point to simply hold her wand that she would possibly challenge Anne to a sword fight for it if this plan fell through.

Hermione and Draco snuck down to the middle deck to cast the disillusionment spell. Hermione didn't hesitate to have Draco put his wand to her and felt giddiness trickle through her as the feeling of a cold liquid slowly trickling ran down her body. Draco tapped his own head, making him impossible to see in the darkness, before they made their way back upstairs.

The poor weather that had started earlier had progressed into a small storm. There was no lighting or thunder, but the high winds pushed against the sails and tested the strength of the rope. The extra men that had stayed up were working to keep the ship sturdy and on course. It was easy to bypass them all. Hermione glanced at the man with the hat and grinned smugly. He was moving his head back and forth; probably looking for them.

"_Alohomora_." They arrived at the captain's room faster than Hermione expected. She quickly followed Draco through the partially open door before slowly pushing it closed without a sound.

The first snore that ripped through the room made Hermione jump. She had slapped her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. She couldn't see it, but Hermione could imagine the look Draco was giving her; some mixture of disbelief and disappointment.

Rackham continued to snore, but the sound quickly became a background rhythm to their searching. Draco had lit his wand tip and began searching in the chest of drawers that was at the foot of the large bed while Hermione sifted through Bonny's trunk.

There was a brief moment when Hermione thought she had located it, but the hard length she felt in the piles of fabric turned out to be part of the lining of a petticoat. The rest of the search through Anne's wardrobe yielded nothing. Not deterred, Hermione moved on to the writing desk.

The desk was a beautiful piece of furniture, even in the dim lighting. The back held many compartments. Some were tall openings with papers spilling out. Others were covered by little doors held shut by locks. Hermione had half a mind to start searching for a ring of keys when she felt Draco come up next to her. The way his barely defined outline and the light moved, she guessed he was holding up his wand. A quick flash confirmed it.

In the same moment that all of the small locks began clicking there were three sharp taps on the door. Hermione stood petrified as the sheets on the bed rustled. Draco had the sense to both turn out his wand light and duck under the desk. He yanked hard on Hermione's forearm, demanding that she follow.

The draught must have worn off. With another quick set of taps on the door, Anne sat up groggily in the bed and lowered her bare feet to the floor. There was no moon or star light streaming in through the window, but Hermione's eyes eventually adjusted enough to see Bonny put on her boots, grab something off the wall, and make a speedy exit.

The whole while, Hermione was half sitting on Draco. They hadn't had time to get comfortable, and as she moved away she realized her hand had been resting on his right thigh while her bum had been planted on the other. She also felt the warmth that was his left hand leave her hip. She felt safe in their hiding spot, but she didn't know how long Anne would be gone. They needed to hurry.

On hands and knees, Hermione crawled forward. Under the cover of the charm she felt okay in such a position in front of Draco. As soon as she was clear of the underside of the desk, Hermione stood and began rifling through the drawers and compartments they had just unlocked.

"Hermione," Draco whispered from beside her as one hand picked through random papers while the other held the again lit wand aloft, "Do you think she has it on her? That she's keeping it in her pocket or something?" At this point, after weeks of it not being of any use to the woman, Hermione decided probably not and shook her head no. "Well?"

Hermione turned her head sharply, but then realized that Draco couldn't see her response. "Uhm, no, probably not," she admitted quickly before continuing her search.

"Accio Hermione's wand." Hermione's heart skipped a beat as he said it. If the wand was on Bonny, they would both be caught. She regained the ability to breathe when an impatient tapping came from one of the lower drawers. Hermione dove for it, desperate to make it be quiet. The sound was music to her ears though. It was like an eager puppy that sees its owners coming home through the window, and barks like mad until they walk through the door.

Wrenching the drawer open, Hermione grabbed at the wand. Her hand met it easily and her heart fluttered as if it were waking from a very deep sleep. Even if the earth opened up and swallowed their ship whole, everything was right in the world now that she and her wand were reunited.

"Let's go."

Draco's voice held a sense of urgency. But just as Hermione took a step to fall in behind him, she caught sight of two pieces of parchment that were rolled up together near the edge that Draco had been searching by. It couldn't be, but she had to reach out and check. "Wait a minute," Hermione told him. Her fingers smoothed out the two pages and her eyes grew wide with delight. There was a message written out, in very poor English she noted with just a quick glance, and on the second page was a hand drawn map.

"Hermione, let it go. It's just a picture and a letter. Do you want to be skewered when that mad woman comes back and finds us rifling through her stuff?" He had a good point, but Hermione couldn't just leave them here. She had been curious about what the bottle she had found so long ago help.

Hoping her magic would still work right even though she was a bit rusty, Hermione tapped the top page. "_Geminio_." A third sheet of parchment, an exact replica of the first, popped into existence an inch away. Hermione cast the same spell on the map and then snatched them both up. She waved her wand one last time and heard the locks clicking back into place as she and Draco rushed out the door and back into the storm that continued to pelt down on the _Revenge_.


	18. Chapter 18: Caesar's Note

Chapter Eighteen: Caesar's Note

"Land ho!"

It was early in the afternoon, just after Hermione and Draco had woken up. She had slept with a vice grip on her reclaimed wand and was currently nowhere to be found. Draco suspected she had snuck down to the lower deck or even the prison area to practice a few spells. He was lazily leaning against the banister that ran along the starboard side of the vessel. Up ahead, the hazy outline of shore came into view and was growing.

He could only imagine what they might be doing this time. Perhaps they would be burning down an orphanage in addition to stealing from the homeless. Draco would always consider himself strict, but he was above being heartless. However, there wasn't the same cheer or tingle of excitement running through the crew. Perhaps this town wouldn't be as profitable for them. Exhaling loudly, he found he didn't care. He and Hermione would need to break away from the crew and Bonny in all the excitement before the latter got wise to their search the night before.

The stench of stale ale permeated Draco's proximity and he immediately began holding his breath until he located the source of the offensive odor. It didn't take much investigating; a large man with his sun reddened belly hanging over the edge of his trousers had lumbered over. His smile was off putting to say the least. His breath reeked of old booze and there were few teeth left, most of which were accumulating a lot of brownish buildup near the gums.

It was difficult for the wizard to not tear down the man right there for being a disgusting excuse for a person when he remembered where he was. Toothbrushes were scarce and he probably had no need to control his alcohol intake. All the same, Draco took a step to his right to create some breathing room between them.

He hoped the man would walk on by, but instead he leaned against the railing as well and looked up at Draco. "Yer wife is the other lady on board," he stated. Draco nodded, but didn't look directly at the man. He already had a feeling this conversation wasn't going to end well for the belligerent man on his left. "She's a real fine lass," Again Draco nodded. "seems a shame ya aint puttin' her ta good use," He chuckled stupidly, the mass that was his belly jiggled.

Use? What use could he put her to on this God forsaken ship? "If by any chance you be unsatisfied with her performance I will be the first to volunteer to set her righ'." The cool grey eyes that were usually so void of emotion grew twice their size before narrowing into a deadly gaze aimed at the uncouth man. He didn't seem to noticed and pushed his luck further. "I haven't been with a woman in some time now as ya can imagine, but I still got a lot in me. And that fair haired siren you got just sings to me."

The man sighed and placed a pudgy arm on the top of the rail. As his eyes fell out of focus and his breathing got heavy Draco came up with ten curses that would make that man completely forget ever touching Hermione. But he couldn't pull out his wand here. It had been risky the other evening, it would be nothing shy of idiotic now.

"A course, if there be something the matter with her, something that aint suitin' you, well you could jus give her ter the men. Aint a one o us that would complain." For no real reason, Draco felt ready to muggle duel with this idiot. It didn't matter to him whether or not the crew believed they were married or related or whatever else one might assume. But even for how much he had looked down on the bushy haired Gryffindor all these years, she was certainly better than this bilge rat that would likely drown due to his intoxication if he were to accidentally slip and fall overboard.

The man was too large for Draco to make it look like an accident, so he took a calming breath and pointedly ignored him. Apparently the man took the silence and an invitation to continue. He hadn't gotten through his first graphic description of Hermione's long legs before Draco sharply cut him off. "If you so much as look in her direction again, ever, I shall see to it myself that you and any other member of this crew that has ever dreamed of staking any claim to her come to a quick and untimely end."

Without even bothering to look at the large pirate's reaction, Draco turned away and marched to the stairs. They needed to stick together when they arrived on shore and Draco needed to be as far away from that sad excuse for a man as he could be.

It wasn't hard to find Hermione. As he expected, Draco found her on the bottom deck tucked away behind a few crates. What was surprising was that she wasn't waving her wand around. Judging by the neatly stacked pile of melons nearby, some of which looked to have had other spells tried on them, she had been practicing to start with. Now however, she was sitting cross legged on the dark wooden floor pouring over two sheets of parchment that she had lain side by side.

She nibbled on her lower lip, her blonde waves falling carelessly over hunched shoulders. Draco guessed she wouldn't give an answer if he asked what they were, so he stood behind her and found that they were the copies of the papers they had found last night. Kneeling down, Draco squinted in the dim light to read the poorly written words on the right piece of paper.

Early winter, 1717  
>Whoever it is what can read this. I hope this map and page do not fall into the hands of Lootenant Maynard nor none of his crew. My Captin, the famos Blackbeard, has fears. He hopes not to alert the crew, but I noe. He says things to himself, is always pacing in his quarters. He worrees for the ship and the men. I noe he worrees for his gold. He has been sailing us against the sun and back all days, he is lookin for the place ta hide it. He noes the awthoritees ar out to get him. If they catch him, he will never return to it.<p>

That be why I rite this page. All that gold belongs to the Captin, and anyone who so tutches it wile he be alive best hope for a qwick death. But I fear his time is coming to pass and he would roll over in the Locker befor seeing in the hands of those royal navee. But after wut my Captin has don to hide his treasur, I am not beleevin' anyone but those that noe how will find it.

I am telling ya this becus I noe my Captin workd hard to get his gold an it wuld do no gud ta hav it hidden forever. I noe I will not be returnin to it as the Captin ordered me to defend our belovd Adventure till she sinks. An I shal do that on account a thas wat he sed ta do.

Ta find the gold tho, ya need more n jus a map an a spayd. I hav a map becus I noe no one would find it without that. But this aint jus an ordnaree place the treasur was put. Deep inside a cave that I hav markd on this map. It feels wrong an unatral to be ther, as if ya wer disturbin somethin an it wants ya gone. But me fearless Captin kept on. Yoo will noe it is the right place wen yoo find fallin water with dark rok behind it. Tis nearly black even in the sun. Deep in the cave there be a split. To be true, ye best not go to far down ayther side. Wut awayts is a most asertind death. But rather ye be wantin to find the pathway that is hidden down the port side. The wall luks the same as the rest o the wall, but ye can walk rite thru.

Deep down ther be wat seems ta be a blank wall. A smart man an no less will be ablt to put tha peeses in place ta open the passage.

I must be onest an say I do not noe wat yoo will find inside. My grate captin had a speshal man help him hide the gold. I was ter stand watch. It took many weeks a serchin for the man an he was killed shortly after we left the cave. He was very important but my captin didnt want fer him to com bak for the treasur himself. He was a supernatral sort, only one like him can tell ya tha seekrets.

Stay not to long for tho I noe not how, my captin sayd peril awaits those with greed. I hope that if my brave captin may not rest with his gold, another brave pirate can.  
>-Caesar<p>

Both adults stared at the scrawl and tried to make sense of the vague message and poor spelling. The map, which Hermione had picked up and was looking over with a critical eye, had an ex marked on one of the northern islands that curved around the Caribbean Sea. Caesar had written "Gwadaloopay" underneath.

"But, we're down here somewhere." Hermione circled a stretch of sea that was just above and to the right South America. "We haven't gone north since we left that town. We're probably about to land right here." She tapped an inked in island that hadn't been labeled but was very near the continent.

Before Draco could respond, both of them went rigid. Two feet were coming down the stairs to the bottom deck.

**A/N: Caesar. A Negro. Member of Blackbeard's crew. Was much liked and trusted by Blackbeard, and was entrusted with the job of blowing up the "Adventure" if the pirates were defeated by Lieutenant Maynard's crew. Attempted to carry out this order but was prevented by two of the frightened pirates. Caesar was hanged in Williamsburg, Virginia, 1719.**

**Hopefully you all forgive me for the delay and don't make me walk the plank (If it's any sort of incentive, you'll never get the ending if you do ;) )**

**Thanks for keeping up with the story, and please let me know your thoughts with a review!**


	19. Chapter 19: Return to Shore

**A/N: I have finals coming up this week, so I (amazingly) have a lot of free time - work that one out... Anyway, hopefully I can get the rest of the story up by the end of the month. No promises, but it is a goal. Just a heads up, chapter 21 gets a little steamy. Thank you again to all those that have been posting reviews and adding me to your favourites! You make it such a joy to post this story!**

Chapter Nineteen: Return to Shore

Both pieces of paper were gone in the blink of an eye. Draco and Hermione stood from their crouching position simultaneously. His face was smooth and placid. Hers was slightly flushed and her hazel eyes darted around trying to identify the intruder. Anyone with half a brain would say she looked guilty, so Draco did the only thing he could think of to explain their separation from the crew. In one swift motion he pulled her in for a deep kiss. His body pressed flush against hers and his arms encircled her waist.

"There ya two be!" Bonny came around a stack of crates that were off to the left. Hermione stood petrified against Draco. Her hands lay flat against his chest and her heart hammered beneath her own. Her mind had yet to register that his lips had actually found hers in the haste. "Come on now!" Bonny snapped harshly, unfazed by the position she found them in. "There be more important matters than yer private affairs." The woman watched protectively as Draco slid his hands away from Hermione's immobile body. He had to grab her wrist and tug to entice her to come along.

Unlike their last trip ashore, there were no homes to be destroyed or townspeople running away. The white sandy beach of the island ran a long way in either direction before curving in. For a moment, Hermione could have believed she was on vacation as opposed to living through a horrible accident.

Some men stayed with the ship which remained anchored a quarter mile from shore. They were responsible for keeping it safe while the captain was away. All others filled the small boats and began rowing. Bonny boarded the boat with Hermione and Draco, both of whom were purposefully looking in opposite directions as they sat next to each other and paddled the oars.

Remembering what the large man had said, Draco didn't let Hermione get too far away from him once they piled out of the dingy. One man had drawn a thick sword and began carving through the low brush above the stretch of sand. Two others followed suit. The captain was next, then ten or so men. Draco and Hermione tried to take the rear but Bonny never sped up to fall in line with Rackham. "Move along!" The red head ordered. Draco conceded to the fact that escaping this crew would be harder than he had anticipated.

Overhead, colourful birds cried out, warning the island of new comers. The trees were alive as all manner of insects buzzed and chirped. Some of the more chummy men talked, but even with the thick ferns and low hanging vines slashed away, the uneven forest floor took concentration to traverse.

More than once Hermione stumbled over an exposed tree root. The first time she caught her balance right away. The second, her arms flailed and she stumbled back. Draco caught her from behind around the biceps and pushed her up until her feet were sturdy.

"Been on the ship so long you've forgotten how to walk," Draco commented.

"It would seem so."

Despite the slowly fading sun, the heat below the jungle canopy bore in on the marching crew. Sweat from Hermione's hairline trickled down her neck and on to her back, causing the thin top to stick to her skin. The men were panting and complaining of thirst. Rackham, Bonny, and Draco all seemed remarkably unaffected by the humidity.

From what Hermione recalled of the map, they were on an island too far south to be the one with the cave. Even if she was mistaken on that, the spot marking the location of the cave was completely different from where they were all heading. If there were no people to pillage and they were not at the final destination, what was motivating the captain to push the pirates forward?

Just as Hermione gathered the courage to turn back and ask Bonny, despite knowing that it would be nothing shy of a miracle to get an actual response, their path took a sudden slope downward. Everyone reached for branches or anything else that would sturdy the change in terrain. At the bottom of the hill, everyone stopped.

Hermione moved to the side so that she could see what was holding everyone up. A hot and thick stench attacked her senses and she had to cover her nose to keep from getting sick. Dark gray goo was spread out and a large swamp blocked their path. Low _ribbets _came from all over the bog as an unseen frog choir sang out. Rackham stayed for only a moment before calling out the order to move forward.

The thick swamp water wasn't deep enough to spill over the tops of Hermione's boots, but the moisture eventually soaked through the leather and began wrinkling the skin of her toes. The sound of a dozen men sloshing through soup-like water drowned out all other noises. If Hermione wasn't convinced that Rackham had a specific destination in mind, she would have thought they were getting lost or being put to some test.

A moment later, a wooden dock with a small boat tied to it came into view. The tropical wood used to make the dock sloped upward and curved to the left. All of the men followed the captain up, silenced by the strange sight. Who would put something like this out here? They lumbered along and were all soon waiting outside the open door of a round wooden hut.

The building was too small to hold everyone, but as Bonny cut through the crowd to enter behind Rackham, Hermione and Draco silently fell in line behind her. Half of the crew was left outside to await orders.

The inside of the hut reminded Hermione of a mishmash of street vendors she had seen several times in Diagon Alley. There were shrunken heads, a display of amulets, bottles containing herbs and unidentifiable bones with strange symbols. Whoever lived there was probably a wizard that used his abilities to fool muggles or cheat them out of their money. Despite the ethics, her heart began to flutter. She knew she shouldn't come in contact with another wizard in the past, but the owner of all of these things may have been able to help her and Draco.


	20. Chapter 20: The Witch Doctor

Chapter Twenty: The Witch Doctor

"A wikiki awaka!"

All heads snapped to the side. Perched atop a bookcase holding an assortment of unidentified goods was a thin and darkly tanned man draped around the waist in a dark blue cloth. Part of it fell between his thighs that were spread due to his squatting position. His left hand was flat against the surface of the bookshelf along with his two feet. The right hand fiddled with a necklace made of white pieces. Whether they were bone, wood, or stone, Hermione couldn't tell.

The man peered down at them all. His black hair looked as though it had never seen a comb and his wide eyes gave him a manic look. Internally glad that this man was as far away from her as possible, Hermione felt her heart sank a little. He was no more than a whack job; she and Draco were no closer to getting home. But he may be of some use, Hermione thought hopefully a moment later. Perhaps he could cause a distraction. It would be a long shot with the men outside, but worth a try.

"Khali Khala!" The man cried out to them. Rackham seemed not to notice the gentleman wasn't speaking English.

"Greetings, Gayogo." The man stiffened and then leaned forward, his body stretched out past the edge of his perch. "We be seeking information about the Cave of Guadalupe." If it were possible, Gayogo's eyes widened even further. "Payment," Rackham further prompted while pulling out a small leather pouch that jingled with the weight of coins, "is not an obstacle."

What a man who secluded himself to the middle of an island would want with money was a complete mystery to Hermione. Gayogo seemed to agree with her private assessment and shook his head.

The muscles in Rackham's cheeks twitched, but he was not deterred. "Very well." Hermione started as he turned to gaze in her direction, but then then realized he was looking at Bonny. "Make the offer."

In all the rush in leaving the boat and stumbling through the forest, Hermione had completely neglected to notice that Bonny was carrying a dark wooden box. She recognized it as the one that had been stolen a few weeks ago in South America. Bonny stepped right between Hermione's line of sight and Gayogo. Though she heard the lid being lifted, Hermione had no way of seeing what was being offered to the little man.

Whatever it was though seemed to be the right currency. He leapt from the top of the bookshelf and landed right in front of Bonny with outstretched hands. Rackham quickly knocked him back. "Ah, the information first." Gayogo gave a lingering look at the box that Bonny had shut quickly when he jumped down and then shuffled off to the other side of the shop.

He opened and slammed drawers and cabinets quickly, and then reappeared before the group. A mostly flat board was laid out over two stumps that were sticking up through the floor from the swamp below. He deposited three unlabeled bottles and a mortar and pestle and continued his rummaging. He walked crouched and low to the ground; Hermione had to crane her neck to peer around other bodies in order to watch Gayogo's movements. She found a small space right next to Draco where she could peer between two sets of broad shoulders.

"The cave you seek claims more treasures than it relinquishes," Gayogo warned as he settled behind his workbench. Rackham gave him a hard look that caused the small man to withdraw.

Hopping lightly from one foot to the other, Gayogo mixed his ingredients. He ground sage and a dark purple root Hermione couldn't identify into powder. He uncorked and added three vials of grey goo that looked suspiciously like swamp water. Hermione's faith in this man continued to dwindle. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, catching sight of more of the man's random collection of artifacts.

A sudden flash of light made everyone jump. Gayogo had lit his concoction on fire. The smell of singed hair and burnt herbs made Hermione cough. The witch doctor's eyes had rolled back in his head and he was drawing in long, deep breaths. A low, indistinguishable chanting was coming from his mouth. He was about as convincing as Trelawny in her everyday classroom. The look Draco gave her said she shared a similar thought.

"A waka, aha, your journey will be short lived yet trying. Prepare yourself." He took another lungful of fumes. "Tread quickly and a great treasure shall be yours for the taking a lingala." What a remarkable fortune to tell a band of pirates. The glee on Rackham's face showed he was drinking in every word. "Brace yourselves a sasinkie. But good fortune shines upon you." Gayogo shook his head and looked from one person to the next. Satisfied with his performance, he took up the box and held it close to his bare chest. "The best of luck to you all a ta tee ta ta."

"What a bunch of rubbish," Hermione whispered as she turned in toward Draco. He smirked while they waited for the others to clear out, Rackham led the way. Just as Bonny reached the doorframe, a solid thud shook the cabin. The two blondes and red head swiveled around and found Gayogo lying flat on his back. His breathing was shallow and slow. Hermione rushed to his side, worried he was having some sort of fit. Before she had time to check his pulse, he began speaking. His eyes remained closed but the words flowed from him like a slow, soothing song.

_"A treasure of more than gold lies in store, but there is more than one seeking the reward. There is not bounty enough to be divided, but nothing shall be gained if one party does not participate. The newcomers shall be the key, but their interests shall seal the chamber and escape will be lost with the high tide."_

With a final shuddering breath, Gayogo lay still. After a second his rumbling snores filled the quiet space. Hermione looked up and found identical hard expressions on Draco's and Bonny's faces.


	21. Chapter 21: The Face of the Man

Chapter Twenty One: The Face of the Man in the Hat

The return trip to _Revenge_was nothing shy of a brisk march. None of the men had heard the actual prophecy, but Bonny had rushed to Rackham's side and held a quickly whispered conversation. Then, as if nothing significant had happened, they formed the same walking order, with Bonny at the rear, and returned to the ship. Again Draco and Hermione were unable to speak privately, but escape was now the furthest thing from their minds.

Night had fallen by the time the small boats got all of the men back on board. They made a single file line for dinner and were grabbing their meals when Bonny called out to two of them. "Gillson, Harper, ye be on night watch now." The two men were clearly disgruntled with being told to stay up longer after such a physically demanding day.

"Malfoys," she continued. It took Hermione a moment to realize that meant her too. "Ye two are relieved of duties for now." Without further explanation, the woman turned on her heel and headed for the upper platform for her supper.

While taking in her own partially mouldy bread and a deep red fruit that she had never tried before, Hermione noticed Bonny and Rackham in a heated debate. Every now and then she saw Bonny look out at the emptying deck. Twice she and Hermione locked gazes.

Eventually the witch was overcome with tiredness. They had walked several miles today and she intended to take full advantage of not needing to stay awake until dawn. Draco had disappeared during the meal and she was surprised to find him lounging in their hammock when she went downstairs. Immediately all thoughts of sleep left her. Carefully she fit herself in next to him and pulled out her wand between their bodies. Draco gave her a slightly amused look but said nothing.

After she cast _muffliato_on everyone nearby, he commented, "That's not in the Standard Book of Spells."

Hermione blushed slightly as she tucked the wand back into the small beaded bag. "No, that was something I learned from Professor Snape." After the events of the war were said and done, she had decided that the spell wasn't evil after all. She glanced sideways at Draco, who had his arms crossed over his middle. "What are your thoughts?" It seemed ridiculous and at the same time completely normal to discuss a prophecy so lightly.

"I'm thinking it would be nice if there were a way to get a transcript of prophecies." They both smiled and Hermione nodded. "But as I understand it, the crew won't be able to reach the treasure without us. There is probably some sort of magic guarding it."

"But if we do make it to where the treasure is hidden, either they will get to keep it or we will get to go home," Hermione finished for him. Draco nodded his agreement.

"And we can't try to go ahead of them," He added, "It said if either of us were absent, we wouldn't get through." The contempt in his voice told Hermione that he didn't like being dependent upon muggles, especially for something so important.

"Perhaps we only need them to get there." Draco said nothing. "At least we know we're safe for now. There isn't a chance Anne would get rid of us if she and Rackham believe we are the only ones that can get them to the treasure."

"But we're only safe as long as we're useful. As soon as they see it we'll probably be killed off." Hermione sighed, knowing his assessment was accurate. "We'll just have to be ready for it. After all, they are only muggles." Hermione stiffened and Draco quickly added, "They shouldn't be much of a challenge when it comes to a duel."

They went back and forth for another hour or so, picking apart the exact wording that they remembered and trying to anticipate what the captain and Anne would have in store for them. Hermione shared her knowledge of muggles that held prisoners at gunpoint and other tactics she had seen in movies. It would be very difficult to out maneuver so many people, but not impossible.

Draco had just opened his mouth to say something when the sound of footsteps on the stairs made him clamp it shut. Without moving, they both strained their eyes in the dark to see the newcomer. Hermione moved to grab her wand and cast the charm again, but Draco lightly laid his hand over hers to stop her. She suddenly felt hot and she wasn't sure if it was because of his touch or that she had just identified the new body as Anne. Her heart sped up as the image of Bonny approaching their bed to kill them off in the night took hold of her mind. The pair watched as she silently snuck past the hammocks and down the stairs at the other end to the bottom deck.

Without making a sound Draco was up out of the hammock and was ghosting across the floor to the stairs. Hermione stared with wide eyes but didn't want to be left behind. Her boots felt heavier than normal and seemed to make noise no matter how slowly she took her steps. Thankfully, no one around them stirred, but she attributed that to the spell.

Draco put his finger up to his lips to tell her to be quiet. Hermione carefully stepped only on the balls of her feet and followed him down the stairs. There were no windows down here, but someone had lit a lantern or candle as a soft yellow glow was emanating from behind a particularly large group of crates. Draco grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her under the staircase where they waited for a moment. After two minutes, they heard a sword being slid back into its sheath and Bonny stepped out from behind a nearby stack of barrels. She looked left and right and then headed toward the light in the corner.

Draco and Hermione were hot on her heels as she wound around the cargo. More than once Bonny stopped and looked back at where she had come from. Each time Draco had pulled Hermione to the cover of stacked goods. If Bonny had known they were there, Hermione had no doubt that she would have spilled their blood, prophecy or no. She seemed to merely be cautious as she moved. And Draco was anticipating her every move, almost as if he were reading her mind. Hermione shot him a suspicious glance just as he pulled her behind one more pile of crates.

These seemed to nearly reach the ceiling and Hermione realized the light was coming from right on the other side. She and Draco crouched low and shuffled toward the far wall a bit until they found a crevice between two boxes that hadn't been pushed up together completely. At first they could only see legs, four of them. The boots were high enough on one pair to be identified as Bonny's, but Hermione couldn't distinguish who the others belonged to.

"Did anyone see you?" A raspy voice asked hurriedly. Hermione bent down a little lower to see if she could see far enough up to recognize a face. She couldn't.

"No one," Anne answered, but far from her usual ordering tone, her voice was soft and, maybe a little sultry?

The unknown body approached Bonny and his arms dropped, his hands reaching around and grabbing her rump. Hermione's eyes grew wide and she automatically tried to move backward, pushing her right up against Draco's front. He didn't move and she was trapped below him, unable to look away from the scene unfolding.

"Anne," the voice had changed drastically from harsh and raspy to sweet and a few octaves higher. "I hate seeing you wrapped up in him all day," the other _woman_whined.

"My dear Mary, even you can admit, the man holds great influence." Their conversation was put on hold for a moment and was replaced with what Hermione could only guess to be a snogging session. "And he does know how to treat a lady."

The knuckles on Mary's hands went white as she gripped Bonny's hind end tighter. "As you know," the fingers slipped around to the front and began tugging on Anne's trouser strings, "It takes a woman to know how to treat another."

Much to Hermione's relief, Anne's hands wrapped around Mary's and stilled them. "That's interesting on account of how yer going straight for the same thing Jack does."

Mary's body pressed in on Anne's and the latter let out a long moan. "Just trust me, you overly suspicious wench." Soon Anne was divested of the bottom half of her wardrobe. Mary tantalizingly threaded her fingers through the dark red curls guarding Anne's sex. She bent her knees and lowered herself down, eventually exposing her upper half to the two voyeurs.

Hermione had to quickly cover her mouth with her hand as the sight made her want to exclaim her surprise. Kneeling before Anne was one of the crew wearing a very recognizable three-cornered hat. Anne's hand quickly pulled the hat away and exposed Mary's dirty blonde hair that was pinned to the top of her head. Without further ado, she splayed her fingers over Anne's thighs and leaned her head in to the top of where Anne's legs met. Her long tongue ran slowly from back to front and Anne's fingers gripped the newly exposed hair.

The feeling of warmth returned to Hermione as Mary continued. She was only brought out of her own thoughts of what that might be like when she felt something hard and solid pressing into her back. Anne's breathing was becoming labored and Mary had a pure look of lust on her face as she looked up upon her lover. It was definitely time for Hermione and Draco to leave.

She looked up and saw his cheeks were slightly pink and his tongue was slowly moving over his bottom lip. Any other time she knew he would have been trying to hide his arousal for fear of embarrassment. But before she let him do anything to get them caught, and before they watched Anne and Mary get any further in their activities, Hermione tugged Draco's arm to signal their need for departure. He seemed to contemplate it for a moment before giving in and helping to guide them both back to their hammock. The quiet sounds of the women copulating followed them out of the bottom deck.

**A/N: Bow chicka bow wow... Haha, I loved writing this chapter, and I hope it took you by surprise in a good way! Historically Anne and Mary were two notorious and probably most famous female pirates. Don't worry, they aren't the only ones to get down and dirty on the ship. More to come soon! **


	22. Chapter 22: The Rum

**AN: I would have liked to have gotten this to you all sooner, but I just got home from Spring Break and I start classes again Monday... But, this is the 2nd to last installment, and full of our favourite pair and (finally) their physical needs take the forefront. Please enjoy!**

Chapter Twenty Two: The Rum

It was uncomfortable, to say the least, lying next to one another after that scene. The hammock seemed to have shrunk in their time away and Hermione couldn't help but squirm to try to find a more comfortable position. At one point, when trying to use the side of Draco as leverage, she lost her hold and her hand went up over his thigh.

"Granger!" He said harshly as she pulled it back quickly and held on to it with the other to keep it from wandering again. "If you can't keep your hands to yourself or hold bloody still you're going to have to sleep in someone else's hammock." She stilled and he smiled, glad he still had some power over her. With the thin blanket as the only barrier between their heated bodies, Hermione and Draco eventually fell into a restless sleep.

All through the next day Hermione found that she had nowhere to look. If she looked at any of the men on the ship and they saw, they gave her a once over that reminded her of Cormac McLaggen. When she saw Anne or Mary, again in her disguise as a male and working with the rest of the crew, her cheeks flared and she was forced to look away.

At first Draco was polite enough to pretend nothing had happened. But while they were standing back and watching everyone else work, Bonny had meant it when she said they were relieved of all duties (though she did wander by them every few hours), he started making lucid comments. Hermione suspected he enjoyed watching her squirm with embarrassment.

"Do you suppose they do that frequently?" He intoned lightly as he stared into the sky and watched a bird fly in a circle. "Every other night or so they meet up and get busy?" Hermione thought back to the night they had snuck into the captain's cabin. Was that where Anne went when she left in the middle of the night? It would explain why they couldn't find her on deck afterward.

He had no problem looking right up to Anne where she stood next to the captain at the wheel. "Bet Rackham knows," he continued. "Mary's probably too selfish to include him though. Bonny is getting a great deal either way. It's a bit of a shame though." He crossed his arms and left the statement open. Eventually Hermione's curiosity got the better of her and she asked why.

"Think on it. There are only three women on this ship, two that most people know of. One is supposedly married," he shot her a pointed look. "Another is clearly property of the captain. The third stays hidden, probably for the best, but instead of making any of the men the happiest sailors in the Caribbean, she gets on her knees for another girl." Hermione could not believe what she was hearing. Draco chuckled at her wide eyes and agape mouth. "Come on, Hermione. You have to admit, months out here and not one tumble under the sheets? No wonder all these blokes have so much rage when they get to shore. They'll go after anything with a skirt." The thought was not at all settling.

Draco leaned in a bit so that their shoulders touched. Hermione shot him a piercing gaze. "A man can't be too picky when his options are limited."

"Such a shame for you then, going from unlimited options to being stuck on a ship with no one to entertain you." The light laugh in her voice told him she wasn't sorry at all for his misfortune. "You could proposition yourself to Anne, I suppose. She doesn't seem like the sort to turn someone down. A bit rough for you though." Draco's cheeks were tinged with light pink as she mocked him.

"I wouldn't say no one." He continued to look down at her and sneered when she couldn't keep eye contact. "Just no one worth working too hard for."

After giving an indignant huff, Hermione stomped away. Even if she wasn't supposed to be cleaning or working, she could enjoy the afternoon without the company of her beloved husband. The very thought made her want to punch a nearby cannon.

The day dragged on and Hermione found herself with nothing to do. She thought about taking a nap but didn't relish the thought of sleeping alone where anyone could walk by and find her. Perhaps another look at the book with the markings or the message and map were in order. It seemed that they were heading north, exactly where the map had shown. There probably wouldn't be any more stops before they found the cave; their time in this century was running out.

To avoid any suspicion from Bonny, Hermione decided to hold off on her urge until after dinner. She lazed in her hammock for a short while, just until the men that had gone downstairs dozed off, before she slipped down into the cargo area. She doubted Bonny and Mary would meet again so soon, but in case they did, Hermione searched for a secluded area where she could hide until they left. Instead, she found Draco drinking from a large glass bottle.

"What is that?" Hermione asked, forgetting to whisper.

Draco pulled out his wand and tapped the bottle, refilling it with a dark brown coloured liquid. "The bottle says 'rum', see?" He held the container of alcohol out so Hermione could barely read the label.

Squinting in the dark she muttered, "Quite."

He shook the bottle back and forth, the sloshing liquid inside not at all appealing to the unimpressed witch. "Come on, have some. It's much better than butterbeer."

"Of course it is, it's muggle alcohol! Put that back where you found it right now!" she insisted.

"No!" Draco pulled the bottle close before tipping another sip into his mouth. "And you shouldn't be such a Hufflepuff. What's the harm in a little drink?" He shook the bottle again, but didn't put it within her reach.

Hermione took a step forward and held out her hand. "Give it to me now, Draco." For some reason Malfoy found what she had said to be hilarious. He tried to hold in a laugh, but didn't manage for more than a few seconds. "What is so funny?"

"You – you said to give it – to give it to you." He seemed to have difficulty breathing through the laughter.

Hermione's eyebrow's knitted together. "Yes, give it to me. Now!" She thrust her opened palm at him again, one hand on her hip.

"Whatever you say, princess." With much more grace than most intoxicated men, Draco cradled Hermione in his arms and backed her into something solid before bringing his lips down on to hers. She pushed on his shoulders, but he held firm against her until she started to fiddle with something at her waist. He quickly grabbed her wrist to prevent her from getting to her wand.

"Come on now, Granger" he crooned, a light trace of the spicy drink on his breath. "You asked for it."


	23. Chapter 23: A Night Alone

Chapter Twenty Three: A Night Alone

"You're drunk," She stated, trying to buy some time to come up with a plan. Draco continued to laugh at her predicament.

"Just go with it." He held both of her small wrists, one with the same hand as the bottle. He forced his legs between hers to keep her from taking aim at his favourite appendage. Certain she couldn't attack him, he lowered his head and placed light, fiery kisses on the side of her neck. All of her weight leaning back against him wasn't enough to make him budge. "You know, you look very pretty with blonde hair. Sometimes you don't even look like the old mudblood I grew up with."

Hermione let out an irritated half screech. "That is not the way to get into a girl's knickers." She gave another mighty shove but it only served to push her chest up into his even more.

He let out another husky chuckle. "If that's where you want to take this…" He nuzzled the warm spot just below her ear and quickly nipped the lobe. For the very first time in his life, Draco thought Hermione had been rendered speechless. "I shouldn't be surprised though." He moved to the other side of her neck and lathered it with kisses. "You've been without companionship at least as long as I have; probably longer."

"You are absolutely insufferable!" The silence couldn't last forever. "You've been down here Merlin only knows how long drinking, and then you force yourself on me and insult me and my private life at the same time."

"Someone's a bit testy," he told her. Draco rubbed his thumbs in small circles at her wrists. "You probably need this; you haven't relaxed since we got here." His lips fell on hers again and he tried to slip his tongue into her protesting mouth. He had minor success before her teeth clamped down painfully. He nipped her lower lip in retaliation. "If you wanted it a little rougher, all you had to do was ask." He ground his hips into hers, his erection more prominent than she had noticed up until this point.

"When are we ever going to get another chance, Hermione?" They were cheek to cheek and though he was whispering, his voice was magnified a thousand fold in her head. Again she was struck silent and Draco knew she was considering his proposal. He figured he would better his odds and went back to sprinkling her neck with kisses, alternating between barely there and greedy. Her breathing became labored and he knew he had her.

Taking a risk, he slowly let go of her left wrist and wound his hand up behind her neck and into the base of her course hair. They looked at each other for a few seconds, each daring the other to back down. It didn't happen, and their lips fused together once more. Rather than pull back, Hermione matched him with her ferocity. Their tongues danced and her free hand rested on his hip, pulling him up into her warm center.

Hermione had to breathe and leaned her head back against the wooden crate behind her. Draco dropped the bottle and reached up to lower the chemise to give himself a new expanse to explore. The glass shattered but they took no notice to it or the liquid spilling out while the warm scent filled the air around them. Draco was far more interested in the edge of the shirt that he slipped down and hitched under Hermione's breasts. Even in the darkness, he could appreciate their size.

Footsteps on the deck above made both of their bodies tense and hearts race. Thinking quickly, Draco took hold of Hermione's hand and began leading her through the maze of boxes. It was unlikely that they would have been found so far back, but he now had an excuse to move them. Within seconds they were in the locked side room that was the prison. It wasn't Hermione's first pick, but she felt relieved when she saw him putting up silencing charm and use lumos.

Her still bare chest heaved and as soon as Draco turned back to her, he was drawn to it. He dropped his wand but the tip remained lit, bathing them in a warm glow that allowed them to appreciate one another's bodies and movements. He lathered each supple breast with licks and suckled the buds until they were hard points. Meanwhile her tiny fingers undid the buttons on his shirt and ran along the smooth skin hidden underneath.

"Not one for talking now, I see," Hermione observed breathlessly.

"There are-" He ran his tongue down the valley between the breasts. "Much better things –" He bit down quickly above the right areola. "To do with my mouth." He latched on to a nipple and looked up at her coyly. "You're more than welcome to say all the dirty things you'd like though." His hot breath across the wet skin made her shudder and Hermione couldn't stand holding no power over him while he drove her crazy.

The strings at his waist gave way easily and she was able to slip one hand inside to put even more pressure on his already strained cock. It was Draco's turn to shudder. He pushed her back against the crossing metal bars, his fingers clinging to them as her fingers did sinister things to him. He realized in that moment that she probably had more experience than he had given her credit for. The thought bothered him for half a second before he grinned wickedly; she would be a lot more fun than he had anticipated.

Draco let go of the bars and hooked his thumbs into the top of his pants before shimmying them down to his ankles. Hermione peered down at the newly exposed flesh and her breath hitched. He wrapped his hand around hers and helped create a rhythm as her fingers slid over his most sensitive skin. His eyelids drooped closed, but shot back open when Hermione dove in and began sucking on his neck. She pulled hard and there was no denying that there would be a love bite later.

It was time to test her boundaries. Perhaps muggle alcohol wasn't as effective or Draco's raging bloodstream was working through it faster than it ever had before, but his thoughts were coming in loud and clear as an image of Hermione kneeling before him came to mind. He placed both of his palms firmly on her hips and applied pressure. She buckled under his touch and slowly wound her way down to his waist. Maybe she had learned that from watching Mary last night. Just the sight of her hungry mouth an inch from his tip, glistening with a bead of pre-cum, made him want to explode.

She wasted no time in giving Draco exactly what he wanted. Her tongue darted out and licked up the liquid before she filled her mouth with his manhood. He gripped the bars again to steady himself while Hermione surprised him with her excellent technique. Her tongue danced along the bottom of his shaft and every time she pulled back and sucked, he felt his balls clench tighter. He made the mistake of looking down at her only to find her bright brown eyes looking right back. "Hermione, I – " that was all he could muster before he shot the large load he had been holding for the past several weeks.

Draco had fully expected Hermione to turn and spit it out, but instead she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and swallowed. "Shite," Draco said in disbelief. He rested his head on the cool bars between his hands. "Fuck," he added, his breathing still a little difficult. From below him he heard a light chuckling and couldn't hold back a smile of his own.

Hermione stood up next to him and cleared her throat. "Well, if that's it then…" Her first step didn't even have time to hit the floor before Draco had ahold of her again.

He pushed himself up against Hermione's back and wrapped his hands around, kneading her full breasts in mirrored patterns. "No, that certainly is not it." He twisted both nipples and Hermione's head fell back on to his shoulder, humming her approval of his ministrations.

"You mean you weren't sated?"

"What do you think?" Draco rubbed his partially revived erection into the cleft of her bum. "Besides, I haven't made your knees quake yet." His right hand traveled down to Hermione's bottoms and slipped inside. She was slick all the way up her slit and Draco's fingers moved effortlessly along her folds, swirling around her bundle of nerves every few seconds. "I'll have you moaning my name soon enough," He assured, pushing the pants down a few inches so he had the room to angle his fingers up and inside her. His hot member was now resting against her cool skin.

"Mmmm," Hermione's eyes fluttered closed and she allowed Draco to please her as best he could in the restricted position. After making her jerk and squirm for a few seconds his little buddy was ready to go again. Draco pulled his hand free, using her sweet juices to wet the tip of his cock. With light pressure of the other hand on her shoulders he encouraged her to bend at the hip. She automatically reached out for the bars and spread her legs as wide as her half on, half off pants would allow.

It was one of the sexiest things he had ever seen and Draco paused for half a second to burn it into his mind. Hermione turned her head. He thought she was going to ask if everything was okay, which it was, but instead she threw him a look, with half lidded eyes and licking her lips, that made him grab her hips quickly and align his cap, dark red with surging blood, with her wet entrance.

He saw her tense up at the last second, but he pressed forward, unable to stop his urge and desire. Her walls were warm and squeezed him in a delightful way. She was tight from lack of recent use, but not no use. He noticed as he slid all the way in to where his sac met her lips that he hadn't been hindered by a barrier. Damn. Someone else had claimed that prize, but at least he could take things a little quicker.

It only took one more slow stroke before they were both slick enough to speed up into a frenzy. His tip repeatedly ran along the most sensitive spot on her walls, causing Hermione to let out a string of sounds that made Draco's brain fuzzier than any drink ever could. He groaned with her, marveling in the feeling of her silky pussy.

"Slytherin's Rod, Hermione," Draco huffed through gritted teeth. She was going to undo him again. He wound one hand around her body and found her clit. Coated in her wetness, his fingers vigorously rubbed back and forth; her back arched automatically, her breathing heavier than ever.

"Gods, Draco." His smirk had never been broader and he drove himself home in her. With a few final thrusts, her body shuddered violently and her muscles clamped him so tight it would have been painful if his own body wasn't rolling with pleasure. Spurts of his seed shot up inside her and Draco felt thoroughly spent.

His palms and fingertips kneaded the top of her bum and lower back, causing Hermione to melt under his touch. The two spent the remainder of the evening exploring on another's bodies and snuck back to their hammock only a short while before sunrise.


	24. Chapter 24: Rude Awakening

Chapter Twenty Four: Rude Awakening

The late morning light streaming in to the middle deck was offensive to Hermione's eyes as she tried to hold on to blissful sleep just a little longer. Their actions from the night before had played in small sections throughout her dreams. She assumed the blush on her cheeks was absolutely permanent.

Draco's thumb traced lazy circles on the back of her hand, the gesture hidden between their pressed together bodies. The sensation alternated between tickling and soothing. She wanted to look at him, to see if he was sharing the same afterglow feeling. Chancing a peek, she wasn't surprised in the slightest to see him smirking at her.

She opened her mouth to offer a smart remark, but was cut off by a deafening boom that shook the ship. They both flopped out of the flimsy hammock and looked around. Assuming they were attacking another cargo ship, Hermione and Draco ran over to the pile of cannonballs in the corner and began carrying them upstairs. Hermione almost tripped on the way up because other members of the crew were hastily trying to pass by. Rackham's loud voice carried orders down the length of the deck.

"The wind is on our side! Don't ye let her get a broadside against us! Wait for my say so to fire!" Hermione was thoroughly perplexed when she finally made it on deck and lifted a cannonball into an empty cannon. There was no other ship in sight. What was all the fuss about?

She turned about to head back downstairs and barely saw it. Well behind the Revenge but gaining, she saw a glimpse of another ship. Leaning over the rail and looking back she saw a huge ship, at least one and a half times what they were riding on, attempting to catch them. The red, white, and blue flag atop the masts told her it wasn't another group of pirates looking for loot. They were being chased by the Royal Navy.

Hermione sprinted back down the stairs for more ammunition. It was wrong on several levels to attack the authorities, but if she and Draco were captured, they would never make it to the cave on Guadalupe. They would be stuck in the eighteenth century forever. She wouldn't stand for that, not when they were so close to going home.

The cannons were all loaded and Rackham gave the order to turn the ship to the left, exposing the following Navy boat to half of the weapons. As soon as the other ship had caught up, the captain yelled "FIRE!" Several booms followed and Hermione watched as the front of the ship tailing them took the brunt of the attack. "Turn about!" Rackham shouted. Slowly the Revenge swiveled around and had all of the cannons on the right aiming at the Navy ship. "FIRE!" The trailing ship was able to out maneuver most of the cannonballs this time, but one did go whizzing right through their front sail.

On and on it went. The Navy ship was able to land several cannonballs of their own into the pirate ship, but nothing detrimental. Eventually the main mast of the larger ship was knocked completely over and the pirates began to pull away. Many of the men requested that they be allowed to loot the Navy ship, but Rackham ordered them down. "There be at least three times the authorities on that ship as ours. We sail on!" There was no more talk of looting.

Hermione and Draco worked to remove one of the cannonballs that hadn't been used. As they approached the metal contraption, one final blast from the Navy ship made direct contact with the rear end of the Revenge. Draco slammed into the cannon but Hermione lost her footing completely and fell sideways into and then over the railing, a high pitched scream accompanying her tumble. Her fingers barely clung to the coarse wood.

"Hermione!" Draco's first thought was to reach for his wand, but as his hand dug into his pocket, he remembered who they were surrounded by muggles; he couldn't give away their secret. He reached over the end of the cannon and was able to grab the hand that wasn't holding the rail. Hermione tried to use her feet to push herself up, but the bottom of her boots just kept slipping against the smooth siding of the boat. Draco bent over the rail and placed Hermione's hand on his shoulder. "You're going to have to let go of the rail and grab on to me." He told her.

She shook her head fiercely and looked down. The distance from their position down to the water looked to be at least three miles. The waves splashed harshly against the wood and Draco felt Hermione begin to tremble. "Hey, look up here." He wanted to give her shoulders a shake but he knew it wouldn't be helpful. "Just grab hold of me, I'm not going to let you fall." She continued to shake and Draco could see her fingers losing their grip. He extended his hand as far as he could and was just able to reach under her armpit. "Trust me."

A few seconds passed and no one moved. None of the crew came over to assist although a few were watching intently. Bonny and Rackham were nowhere to be found. Draco kept his grip strong on Hermione, who was still unable to force herself to let go of the railing. Then, in a quick flash, her right hand jumped from the wood to his available upper arm. The sudden extra weigh made Draco tip forward a little farther. He planted his feet and pulled up with all the strength he could muster.

It didn't happen in one go, and he had to lower her back down a little. She screamed again, afraid he was falling too, and clung to him harder. "You're fine, Hermione, just hold on." He took a deep breath and tried again. His second attempt was enough for her to put her foot up on the edge of the deck. It slipped once, but he held her in place long enough to get her steady. "Now just step over." It was slow and awkward, but Hermione was able to lift her leg up over the railing and set it back down on the other side.

Draco breathed a sigh of relief just in time for Hermione to throw her arms around his neck and plant a forceful kiss. He was shocked she changed so suddenly, like a flick of a wand, but he held her close and returned it. Some of the men that had stood dumb struck and watched or whistled and called out, but neither paid them any mind.

**AN: WOO! Haha, I hope you all enjoyed that as much as I did. Seriously, I went back and read it for errors and thought "did I really write all that!". Please leave your thoughts and comments in a review! There are only a few chapters left in this narrative and I'd love to know what you all think! Thank you again to all those who have stuck with it thus far!**


	25. Chapter 25: Secrets Revealed

**AN: It's about that time... Time for the story to draw to a close. I know many of you have been waiting some time for this. For those of you who just recently wandered along and found the story, welcome! I had a great time putting it together and I love hearing the feedback. I want to take the time to dedicate these last few chapters to ArctruasB. She has graciously accepted to Beta my next Harry Potter story, and I thought it would be a good idea to get this one totally out there so I can devote my energies to it.**

**Thank you again for sticking with this couple for the past 24 chapters, you're nearly there!**

Chapter Twenty Five: Secrets Revealed

The following two weeks passed quickly. When Bonny had heard about Hermione nearly falling off the ship, she let her fury out on the crew. Of course, they had no idea how valuable the witch was to what Bonny and Rackham were planning; they didn't even know where the ship was headed. Draco and Hermione didn't have any more public displays of affection on board. The weight of the impending trip to shore put a damper on any romantic endeavors. Draco wasn't one to be flamboyant with the possible "relationship" anyway. They slept with their hands touching between their warm bodies, but otherwise behaved as if they were still on an assignment for the Ministry.

Without knowing what awaited them on the island, Draco and Hermione were having a hard time coming up with a more concrete plan than just winging it. Hermione assumed they would be required to walk in front of others so they didn't have the chance to sneak away. It would give them the advantage of being able to pull out their wands, but they would not be able to know what was going on behind them.

As the sun rose one morning Hermione freed herself from the hammock and went to stand on the deck. A cold chill swept over her when she saw the same thing as the man in the crow's nest.

"Land Ho!" Her gritty blonde hair flew behind her as the boat seemed to pick up speed; as though it wanted to deliver her to her fate sooner rather than later.

"You know, for someone who fought You-Know-Who, you're being pretty uptight about all this." Draco had silently snuck up behind her. She didn't flinch, but she stayed quiet for a few moments.

"It's just… I don't know what will be there." Hermione crossed her arms and took a steadying breath. "Anyway, Voldemort overestimated himself. And it was Harry that did all the work."

Draco chuckled. "Please, scar head would have been dead in ten minutes without you." She blushed and shook her head, but said nothing to contradict him. "We will be fine." How could he be so sure of himself? Just like when he went into that pub their first day here and when he had pulled her back up from the side of the ship. He was so positive and she just wasn't. Since when did Hermione doubt her own abilities?

As expected, as soon as the ship laid anchor and the men were ashore, Hermione and Draco were ordered to walk between Rackham and Bonny. Draco thought it was foolish to put the leader out of reach from his right hand, but Hermione knew the large old man could probably skewer them with a sword faster than they could draw their wands. He seemed more preoccupied with checking a crinkled bit of parchment every five minutes. Hermione was much more interested in Bonny standing behind them, and Mary standing behind her. The rest of the crew trudged along either ahead, cutting a bath through the thick limbs and vines, or behind, confused by the treatment given to the Malfoys.

The cave wasn't difficult to find. It was about half a mile in from shore and completely hidden behind a large waterfall that shimmered in the sunlight. It was impossible to miss the inky black rocks on the outside, just as the Caesar had described in his letter. There was no way into the cave without going under the cascading water. Without hesitation, the march moved on with Rackham's encouragement. Hermione held her nose and closed her eyes as she moved through, reaching out to hold on to Draco so she wouldn't fall. The water was bone chilling and she was glad to get through to the other side without stumbling.

Hermione looked up at Draco, expecting a good laugh at his soaked appearance. But his startled expression had her worried. She looked down and found her clothes clinging to her in a rather embarrassing way, but otherwise nothing was out of the ordinary. "What?" She whispered.

Before he could answer, Bonny angrily asked, "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Hermione looked around and found everyone that was close nearby was staring at her. Draco let go of her hand and reached up to her head, pulling a soggy lock of her brown hair into view. He didn't say anything else as he watched the horror wash over Hermione as the waterfall had a moment ago.

Suddenly it dawned on her, "Thief's downfall…" She had said it too quietly for Draco to hear, and Bonny again demanded an answer. "I – I don't know," she said shakily, grabbing at her hair. "Is it dirt?" Hermione began frantically running her fingers through it, and even stepped back toward the falling water as though she were going to rinse all of the natural colour away.

"Keep moving!" Rackham's loud voice echoed off the cave walls. Though dissatisfied at not having an explanation, Bonny gave a nod of her head to Draco and Hermione, telling them to move along. The cave quickly became dark but the torches that had been brought were completely soaked through.

"Lumos!" Hermione gasped as Draco held his wand out in front of him, lit for everyone in the cave to see.

"What are you doing?" She hissed. Bonny's eyes were alight with curiosity and most of the men had stepped back in fear.

"I would have shown them sooner or later. I for one don't want to be wandering around in the dark in a cave." Hermione looked as if the Minister of Magic himself was going to swoop down and scold them.

"Anne, leave them be." Hermione turned and saw Anne had taken several steps toward Draco and herself. She looked back and forth between Rackham and his first mate, wondering if they had come across wizards in any of their travels. She couldn't be sure, but for now it seemed that he was more concerned with the treasure that lay ahead. At least now he might have more faith in Gayogo's prophecy concerning their usefulness. Bonny came no closer, but she didn't back away. She remained hot on their tail as they wound through the cavern.

Eventually there came a fork in the path and without even stopping Rackham told the people in front to continue on to the left. "Don't go too far," He warned. Caesar had not been specific about what lay at the end of the tunnel, but he had made it clear that the crew didn't want to find out.

Rackham walked along the right wall, letting his fingers lightly trail along against the rough stone. He ordered one of the men to do the same. On and on they walked, but for twenty minutes all they felt was solid wall. Up ahead there was a terrible scream and the sound of a man falling. Eventually the sound faded, but there was never a thud to signal him hitting the bottom. Rackham turned about and ordered Draco and Hermione to walk along the walls. They both pretended to be confused but followed the order.

Ten minutes later, Hermione felt a warm spot of wall. It looked the same as the rest, but she stopped in her tracks. Draco was next to her a moment later. He looked at it for a second before Rackham waddled over. He pushed against the wall, but nothing happened. "This not be it."

"I think it is," Draco challenged. He tapped the end of his wand to the stone wall. "Partus Temporus." Much like the brick wall behind the Leaky Cauldron, the stone started to melt away. Rackham cackled happily and pushed the two forward into the newly exposed pathway that was barely wide enough for the two of them to walk side by side. They heard his sword slide out and knew that it was now or never. Before he or any of the other pirates could get a jump on them, Draco grabbed Hermione's hand and tugged hard. "Run!"


	26. Chapter 26: Too Good to be True

Chapter Twenty Six: Too Good to be True

Draco and Hermione took off and were ten feet ahead of Rackham before he knew what was going on. He cried out. "Get em, don't let em get away!"

Hermione pulled her hand out of Draco's and began digging through her bag for her wand. As soon as it was free she pointed it over her left shoulder and screamed, "Bombarda Maxima!" A large chunk of the roof collapsed on the group chasing them. The sounds of the angry party were silenced but neither Draco nor Hermione dared to stop running.

The light at the end of Draco's wand bobbed with his uneven steps. They didn't stop until they came to a dead end. "What the?" Draco was suddenly angry and tried to use the same spell as before to reveal an opening. Nothing happened.

"Draco, look!"

Near the corner was what looked to be a square carved into the wall. There were nine squares inside that and nine squares in each of those for a total of eighty one small squares in the large one. Some of the squares looked as though they were painted, but only one or two were the same colour. It was difficult to tell some of the colours apart in the light.

"It's just a dumb drawing, Granger," Malfoy snapped.

"It is not, Malfoy, it's a puzzle. I've only ever seen it with numbers though. You can't have the same colour in the same row or column, or in the same box, like this one here." She traced the around the upper left nine squares where the line in the wall was slightly thicker.

"That's impossible."

"No, it's logic." Hermione insisted. She found a few squares scattered on the ground and tried to push one in the place she thought it went. Surprisingly, the wall behind it gave way and the piece stayed put. Hermione tapped each of the pieces and used a duplicating charm so that she would have enough. "Just give me a moment."

Draco leaned against the wall and crossed his arms and ankles. Every once in a while she would huff and have to pry some of the pieces back out, but the ones that were there to begin with never budged. Draco looked back down the way they had come every now and then, but there wasn't a sound or sight to suggest that any of the pirates had cleared away the cave in Hermione had caused.

She finally pushed the last piece in with her thumb and all of the pieces she had stuck in so far popped back out. The vein in her temple began to pulse as she stared at the small squares like they had done her personal harm. Just as she was about to pick them all up and start over, Draco let out a shout; the wall he had been leaning against vanished and he barely kept his balance.

The next chamber was large and, oddly enough, very well lit. There seemed to be an orb emitting light from the very center of the room. It floated at almost eye level with Hermione. The pair approached it cautiously and Hermione's face lit up when she saw large rocks in a circle around the orb on the ground, like around a campfire. Familiar patterns were carved into the surface. She knelt down and opened her beaded bag again, reaching in and pulling out a small sketch book. She silently compared them, lightly tracing the designed she had written down in the book and the ones most similar to them on the rocks.

"These appear to be the same, only fractionally different, but I've never seen anything like this before." Hermione pointed to the ball of light only two feet away. It gave off no heat, and didn't even hurt to look at. Draco reached out a hand to touch it and Hermione grabbed at him. "Don't, we don't know what it does. It could be dark magic."

"Give me something from your bag then." Hermione handed over an empty steel potions flask, which Draco dropped on top of the orb. It seemed to be repelled by the sphere and bounced off, clattering to the ground. Hermione scooped it back up and picked up a loose pebble on the ground. Her fingers worked over the black rock before she tossed that at the light source and was amazed that it seemed to fuse with it. A second later, small granules, the same colour as the rock, were deposited below the orb.

"It makes… sand?" A glimmer behind Draco's shoulder caught her eye and made Hermione pause. He turned to see what she was looking at and saw it; on a pedestal of rock sat a large wooden chest. The lid was open, and dozens of gold coins and glittering gems sparkled in the soft light.

"That's all?" Draco asked in disbelief.

"You would say that a treasure is too small."

"What I mean," Draco replied, closing the space between him and the gold, "Is that this Blackbeard fellow seemed revered and was probably pirating for a long while. If he went through all this trouble to hide his treasure, don't you suppose there would be more?"

She hadn't thought of that. A quick glance around the cave showed her that there were in fact several pedestals along the curved wall, all supporting large chests, each spilling over with gold coins. "Was that more of what you were thinking?" Hermione asked. Draco only nodded in reply.

"Granger, is it really this easy?" Hermione gave Draco a confused look. "Do we really just need to put rocks into that," he pointed at the ball of light, "and refill the time turners?"

"It can't be," Hermione confessed. "Normal sand, made from rocks, that's what makes them go backwards. We would need a pure element." Draco cleared his throat and, when Hermione looked over, nodded to the chest. "Gold?... Gold! Quick, Draco, help me lift this."

Draco laughed and pointed his wand at the chest. With a flick of his wrist, it came off the rock and was floating toward the center of the room. As soon as the chest was lifted away, the small pillar of rock it had rested on began sinking. The top became level with the ground at the same time that the opening in the wall they had come through slid shut. The pillar then sank below and water shot up out of the new hole and began filling the cavern.


	27. Chapter 27: Flooded

Chapter Twenty Seven: Flooded

The chest wobbled and fell to the ground as Draco lost his concentration, scattering the coins everywhere. Hermione dropped to her knees, soaking the shins of her pants in the quickly rising water. Scooping up as many pieces as she could, she stood and threw the wet metal at the floating orb. It seemed to hum in appreciation as it processed the treasure before a tiny bit of sand came out the bottom.

"Gods we're going to need a whole chest at least," Hermione said, looking frantically about. "Draco, levitate another one, one with just gold in it, while I get out a time turner."

"We'll be up to our ears in water by then, Granger." Already the steady flow had worked its way up to their shins. Two gushing sources would have the cavern filled in a matter of minutes.

She shot him a dirty glare as she quickly worked to untangle one of the time turners from the others; all of the golden chains had knotted themselves together and weren't coming apart. Not seeing any other way out of it, Draco held his wand aloft, but didn't actually charm the next treasure chest until Hermione was poised near the orb with an empty time turner.

"Is that it then?" Draco asked as the chest slowly tilted and the coins spilled down on the orb. He hadn't seen Hermione work back in Port Royal, but he did recall that it had taken longer than he had wanted to stand there. The last of the gold disappeared within the source of light and it hummed again, louder. Slowly, dust fine grains drained from the bottom as the chilling water reached their waists.

"Just hold this." Without waiting for a response, Hermione shoved the small device in his hand and pointed her wand at it. The sand inside seemed grow warm under his fingers, but Draco didn't say anything the entire time Hermione worked, her eyes closed in concentration.

In fact, there wasn't much he could say; except that he hoped the first time in her life that she was wrong about something wouldn't be this moment. She had their very lives in her hands and Draco didn't suppose another intelligent wizard was going to be clearing out that blocked tunnel any time soon. It became darker as the orb of light was partially submerged in water. Draco vaguely wondered how long he could hold his breath.

"There!" Hermione had been holding her wand over her head to finish the casting, but now it was back under the water. "Give me your hand and hold on to that tightly." Draco was confused but obeyed. A second later, the cold feeling of the frigid water disappeared and the sensation of being suffocated due to the inability to expand his lungs replaced it.

Apparition… apparition! Why hadn't he thought of that? He looked around and saw the signs of a dirty alley only used as a place for dumping rubbish or engaging in secret transactions. "Where are we?" He asked, too busy trying to identify their location to notice he was still holding her hand.

"This is where I slept the night you signed your life away to a group of pirates for a few gold coins." Draco squinted through the dirty window and recognized the card tables.

"Why here?"

"We need to get back to where we were when we left our time. We have to try to make the loop as complete as possible. Luckily it's nearly dark; there shouldn't be too many people on the beach right now." Another good thing about it being dark was no one would notice them looking like two half drowned pirates. They hurried down to the beach and reached their destination in a matter of minutes.

Hermione took the time turner from Draco and put the chain around both of their necks. Without saying anything, instead giving him a piercing gaze, she began turning. She counted to two hundred eighty six, not wanting to overshoot their time away and not entirely sure what month it was anymore, and let it spin freely.

No words were spoken as the world flashed by them, night to day and back again. Draco wasn't sure how Hermione knew how to make time travel forward. He wasn't sure if they would wind up in the right month or even the right year. He didn't know or know if he cared what was to become of his job at the Ministry or anything else he had left behind in the future. He found, as the blurred goings on around him came to a slow and then a halt, that the only thing he knew anything about and cared at all about was standing right in front of him.


	28. Epilogue: Six Years Later

EPILOGUE: Six Years Later

The Ministry of Magic never did get a full explanation of how one of the empty time turners they had sent was destroyed during the sand retrieval mission. No one in wizarding Britain was ever given a clear explanation of how Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy were suddenly so infatuated with one another. The couple gave no hint as to why they had been able to lay their differences aside. Hermione Granger would not spill the beans on where she got a gorgeous eighteenth century replica gown that she wore as a wedding dress. And absolutely no one dared ask what had sparked the bundle of joy that was Aevum Narcissa Malfoy, born not even ten full months after Draco and Hermione returned from the Caribbean.

"Mummy, look what grandpa gave me." Hermione half turned away from the dishes she had been doing by hand while waiting for Draco and Aevum to return from the Malfoy Manor. She wasn't strictly forbidden from the grounds, but Hermione had vowed after her narrow escape from there that she would never go back. Draco had assured her it wasn't the same place, and that she was always welcome, but Hermione stood her ground.

"What is it?" She asked excitedly, crouching a bit to stand eye level with her five year old. The child was clutching a tiny pair of emerald earrings.

"Father says we'll make a Slytherin out of her yet." Draco entered the kitchen, carrying a large plate of baked goods the house elves had sent him off with. Hermione refused to keep them in the house, so Draco took advantage of their good will whenever he could visit.

Aevum looked up at her dad and scrunched up her face. "I don't want to be a Slytherin, I want to be in Gryffindor like mummy." She looked down at the small gems in her hand. "Will grandpa want them back if I'm in Gryffindor?" she asked sadly.

Hermione shook her head and smiled. "How about I make you a deal." She pulled the child in close for a hug. "When you go to Hogwarts and get sorted, you send your grandfather and owl and tell him where you are and that you're proud. If he says two words to you about it, I'll march right up to him and tell him…" the rest of the sentence she whispered so that only the small girl could hear, which perked Draco's interest. Aevum giggled and looked back down at the emeralds. "Yes, you can wear them," Hermione added, standing back up.

Aevum's face was alight with the glee that only small children can manage and skipped off down the hall to her room singing "I'm going to be in Gryffindor… or Slytherin… or Ravenclaw… but not Hufflepuff… Well maybe, I don't know."

Draco chuckled and hugged Hermione from behind. "Just what are you going to tell my father when our now corrupt daughter is sorted into that goody two shoes house?" He asked, pressing his nose into her hair and inhaling.

Hermione smirked and sighed. "I told her I'd tell him that Slytherins have to be second to someone."

Draco shook his head and nuzzled her neck. "Well, everyone comes second to Gryffindors when it comes to being irrational and hot tempered."

"Yes, and we were always number one in Quidditch, as I recall." She drained the sink of water and purposely ignored Draco's wandering hands.

"When did you ever pay attention to Quidditch?"

"I watched." Hermione kept a sharp ear out for little feet that would bring their daughter back down the hall and force her to spy her father groping her mother.

Draco laughed; the warm sound was music to Hermione's ears. "I know what you were watching." His thumbs massaged circles into her thighs.

"You know, I've been thinking." He placed a few light kisses on her neck. "Aevum could certainly use a little brother. Her grandparents are spoiling her rotten. She told me today that she would like a racing broom and a pony for her next birthday." The couple shared a short laugh that was cut off when Draco pressed his covered erection against her backside.

"You really are insatiable, Hermione sighed, wiping her hands on a nearby towel.

Draco grinned. He watched her hips sway as he followed her down the hall. "What can a bloke do when he has a willing woman to come home to?" Hermione blushed as she disappeared into their bedroom. "I think we should pull out the pirate outfits again," he said, shutting the door behind them.

*Aevum (according to google translateor) means "Time of Life"

**AN: And there you have it. I can't thank you all enough (though believe me, I've been trying) for reading my story and leaving all of the great reviews! I felt so encouraged when I read all of your kind words! Please keep a look out for some of my future stories. I might stray from Hermione/Draco a bit, but I have a very soft spot for this lovely couple. If you have anything to say, questions, or requests, please feel free to leave a review or send me a message!**

**~Luna**


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